I find it odd that the Alaska Zoo has Greenland musk ox (Ovibos moschatus wardi), I say that because the subspecies native to Alaska is the Barren ground musk ox (Ovibos moschatus moschatus), and wouldn't it have been easier for them just to get Barren ground musk ox (Ovibos moschatus moschatus)....???
But still it is nice to see Greenland musk ox (Ovibos moschatus wardi) in captivity somewhere !!!
The native Alaskan subspecies was wiped out in the 1800's. In the 1930's the Govt brought in Greenland Musk Ox. Some animals were released on Nunavut Island in Bristol Bay, others were kept at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks where the feasibility of domesticating the animals was studied. The descendants of these two groups now constitute the 4,000 wild Musk Ox in western and northern Alaska and the semi-domesticated animals found in Fairbanks and Palmer. The captive animals on display in Anchorage and Portage are also of these herds. I have a theory (unscientific and speculative) that the inability of the Musk Ox populations in Alaska to withstand predation by Brown Bears may be due to the fact that Alaska was repopulated with Greenland Musk Ox, rather than mainland Canadian Barren-ground Musk Ox....but it's just a theory.
It's nice to see musk ox anywhere. I've always considered them one of the world's more primitive looking ungulates. I've only seen them in a zoo once back in 1980, and that was in San Francisco.
I agree. They are my favorite Alaskan animal. I'd seen them in Zoos in Germany and Belgium back in the '00s. I was thrilled to see them in the wild a few years ago. Beautiful relics.
It's nice to see musk ox anywhere. I've always considered them one of the world's more primitive looking ungulates. I've only seen them in a zoo once back in 1980, and that was in San Francisco.
