by Donald M. Jones
Donald M. Jones brings us a selection of Muskoxen images from a herd descended from a rescue mission. Muskoxen once roamed northern Europe, Asia, Greenland and North America, including Alaska. However, by the mid-1800s, overhunting and possibly unfavorable climatic conditions eradicated the herds from Europe and Asia. By the 1920s, they were also gone from Alaska, with only a few remaining in east Greenland and Arctic Canada.
See the full gallery of Don's new Alaskan Muskoxen photos
In May of 1930 the U.S. Congress gave the U.S. Biological Survey $40,000 “to acquire a herd of muskoxen for introduction into Alaska with a view to their domestication and utilization in the Territory.” There began an 8,000-mile adventure, the moving of 34 muskoxen from Greenland to the Alaska island of Nunivak. The journey — by steamship, train and barge — lasted six months, including one month the muskoxen spent in New Jersey during quarantine.
Muskoxen from the Nunivak herd were later moved to other parts of Alaska including 71 established on the Seward Peninsula in two separate waves. The animals thrived. According to Alaska Fish and Game the current population of oxen in this region has reached around 3,400 individuals. This increase has led to regulations granting subsistence hunting of muskoxen by Alaskan residents who register for a permit. And what about the plan to domesticate muskoxen? A small herd of animals are located near Anchorage, where they are raised specifically for qiviut - their underwool, which is used to make soft and warm clothing.
