Musk Ox

Updated 10/22/26

Meet our musk ox family! 

Their thick coats, powerful horns, and protective family groups make them wonderfully adapted to Arctic life.  

The plural for musk ox is musk oxen, and we have 4 musk oxen at the Alaska zoo. 

Maya and Little Rock are both 15 years old. Maya was rejected by her mother as a newborn and came to the zoo for care just one day after birth. They later became parents to Sarah Elizabeth, who is 9. Our youngest is Shelly Bean, about 1 year old. You can spot her by her smaller horns! She was abandoned by her herd near Nome before coming to the zoo. 

Musk oxen can live around 12-20 years in the wild and up to 22 years under human care. 

Musk oxen live in Arctic regions near the Arctic Circle, including Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia. Despite their name, they're more closely related to sheep and goats than cattle!  

Musk oxen roamed the Earth during the Ice Age alongside woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. While many Ice Age giants went extinct, musk oxen survived. Today, they're among the last surviving large mammals from that era, giving us a living connection to the distant past! 

Males, called bulls, can weigh 600 to 800 pounds, while females, called cows, weigh around 400 to 500 pounds. 

Musk oxen are herbivores, eating grasses, lichens, and woody plants. In winter, they prefer areas with shallow snow, making it easier to reach their food. 

Their shaggy coats are perfectly designed for Arctic life. Long, dark guard hairs protect them from wind and snow, while a soft undercoat called qiviut keeps them warm. One of the warmest natural fibers in the world, qiviut is prized for its softness and can be collected when musk oxen naturally shed in spring. 

In Alaska, the collection of wild musk ox qiviut is closely tied to Alaska Native traditions and livelihoods. Alaska Native people are the only ones permitted to harvest qiviut from wild musk oxen, preserving an important cultural practice. This incredibly soft, warm fiber is carefully collected and spun into beautiful yarn and garments. 

Take a look at their impressive horns! Both males and females have them, but males have a much thicker forehead plate called a boss. This bony shield helps protect their heads during battles. When competing for mates, males charge at each other and slam their heads together until one backs down. Talk about a head-to-head competition! Females have smaller bosses, but their horns are still useful for defense. 

During breeding season, bulls, like our male Little Rock, can become more aggressive as they compete for mates. When our male gets especially testy, he may spend some time separated from the females to keep everyone safe. 

They're also remarkable parents and protectors. When threatened by wolves, adults form a defensive circle with their horns pointing outward and calves safely in the middle. This powerful formation helps protect the young, though it offers less defense against human hunters. 

Musk oxen have an important conservation story in Alaska. They were hunted to extinction here by the early 1900s, but animals from Greenland were later reintroduced. Today, Alaska's musk ox populations are considered stable, showing how conservation efforts can help bring a species back. 

By protecting Arctic habitats, reducing pollution, and respecting wildlife, we can help wild musk oxen thrive for generations to come.