Musk Ox

An Ice Age survivor

Musk oxen (actually more closely related to goats than to oxen) coexisted with woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed cats, and early humans during the Pleistocene. While most megafauna went extinct, the musk ox survived in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland. They were extirpated from Alaska and Norway by hunting in the 19th century but successfully reintroduced.

The defensive circle

The musk ox’s most famous behaviour is its response to wolves: the herd forms a tight outward-facing ring, horns pointed out, with calves pressed to the centre. Adult bulls stand on the perimeter. This works well against wolves; it works disastrously against humans, who can simply shoot the stationary animals one by one — a major factor in the species’ near-extinction during the 19th-century fur trade.

Qiviut

The undercoat of the musk ox — called qiviut — is one of the finest natural fibres in the world. It’s shed naturally in spring, combed or collected from brush and rocks, and spun into yarn. Qiviut is eight times warmer than wool, extremely lightweight, and does not shrink when washed. A qiviut scarf sells for several hundred dollars; it’s one of the most expensive natural textile fibres.

The musk

Males produce a musky odour from glands near their eyes during the autumn rut — the source of the name. They rub their faces on their legs and on vegetation to deposit scent as a territorial signal. The smell is intense and can be detected by humans from considerable distance.