Muskox (Ovibos moschatus)
MammalArcticBovid
Two muskoxen photographed in Alaska; the long guard hairs and horn boss are clearly visible.
Image: BLM Alaska, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Overview
The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is a heavy, long-haired bovid of the Arctic tundra. Despite the name it is neither a musk deer nor an ox: it belongs to the same family as sheep and goats, and its closest relatives are the goat-antelopes rather than cattle.
Muskoxen are built around insulation. Beneath a long shaggy outer coat that hangs almost to the ground lies qiviut, an exceptionally fine and warm underwool that is shed in sheets each spring. Both sexes carry horns that meet across the forehead in a heavy boss in mature males.
The species survived the end of the Pleistocene across the Arctic and now occupies a much reduced natural range in Greenland and Arctic Canada, with reintroduced and introduced herds in Alaska, Russia and Fennoscandia.
Habitat & Range
Muskoxen live on Arctic tundra in Greenland, the Canadian Arctic and Alaska, with introduced populations in Russia, Norway and elsewhere. They favour areas where wind keeps snow shallow in winter — river valleys, ridges and slopes — because deep or crusted snow makes feeding far harder.
Diet
Muskoxen are grazers and browsers, taking grasses, sedges, willow and birch twigs, forbs, mosses and lichens depending on the season. In winter they use their hooves and heads to break through snow to reach vegetation, and they conserve energy by moving as little as possible.
Behavior
Muskoxen are herd animals, living in mixed groups that are larger in winter. Their best-known behaviour is the defensive formation: when threatened by wolves, the herd bunches into a line or circle with the adults facing outward and the calves protected behind, rather than scattering. Bulls compete in the rut with head-on charges that meet at the horn bosses. The 'musk' of the name refers to the strong odour rutting bulls produce.
Human Interaction & Conservation
Muskoxen were hunted to local extinction in parts of their range and have since been reintroduced to several regions. They support subsistence hunting and small-scale qiviut production, and the wool is highly valued for its warmth and fineness. Modern pressures include icing events that seal vegetation under crust, disturbance, and changing predator and disease patterns. Verify current status at the IUCN Red List.
Sourced facts
Each value below is traced to the specific reference that states it. Open a row's evidence to see the source, where to look in it, and how firmly it supports the value. Sources checked 2026-10-09.
| Fact | What the source states | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic range | Circumpolar; native to Canada and Greenland, and to Alaska until the late 1800s. Reintroduced to Alaska from Greenland in the 1930s; introduced to Russia, Svalbard, Norway and Siberia.Some herds have spread on their own from Norway into Sweden. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
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| Habitat | Arctic tundra north of the tree line; near water in summer, moving in winter to higher ground where wind clears snow from food.The seasonal-movement statement comes from ADW's Home Range text, which refers to Alaskan muskoxen. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
|
| Diet | Generalized grazer: in summer grasses, leafy plants, sedges, mosses, shrubs and herbs; in winter willow, dwarf birch stems, roots, mosses and lichen.ADW opens its Food Habits section with 'Muskoxen are generalized grazers.' Calves nurse for up to about a year but start eating adult food within weeks. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
|
| Body size | Head-and-body length 135–200 cm in females and 200–250 cm in males; typical shoulder height 120 cm.The first excerpt sits in ADW's paragraph on females, the second in its paragraph on males. ADW's pooled data-summary length field gives a different span (see concerns). | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
|
| Body mass | Females 180–275 kg (average 250 kg); males 300–400 kg (average 320 kg).ADW's pooled data summary (180 to 400 kg, average 285 kg) is consistent with these sex-specific figures. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
|
| Lifespan | Females typically live 15–18 years, some over 20 years (wild and captivity); males typically 10–12 years.Sex-dependent. ADW's data-summary fields also give pooled values that are not sex-specific (see concerns). | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
|
| Activity pattern | Diurnal; generally slow-moving, with very short migrations within the home range.'Diurnal' appears only in ADW's Key Behaviors checklist, not in prose; ADW gives no discussion of activity during polar day or night. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
|
| Social structure | Herds of as few as 5 in summer that merge into herds of up to 60 in winter; most herds average 10–20 animals.Season-dependent. ADW describes a harem breeding system (one dominant male mates with the herd's oestrous females) and dominance hierarchies among males, females and calves; competition sometimes leaves solitary males. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
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| Distinguishing traits | Barrel-shaped, short-legged and furred all over except between nostrils and lips; both sexes have cream, black-tipped horns that meet mid-head, drop down the sides and hook upward.Long dark guard hair can brush the ground on older animals; males have a thick horn boss that females lack; legs are white and the back has a lighter 'saddle'. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
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| Conservation status | Least Concern (LC), global assessment, 2022 | Matches source · IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — how we knowIUCN Red List of Threatened Species
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References for the facts above
- UniversityAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of ZoologySupports: Range, habitat, diet, body size and mass, lifespan, activity and social structure, as the account states them. Retrieved 2026-10-09.Limitations: A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
- ReferenceIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesSupports: The global Red List category and the year of the assessment. Retrieved 2026-10-09.Limitations: Read from the Red List export IUCN publishes to GBIF; iucnredlist.org itself does not answer automated reads. Categories are reassessed over time.
Frequently Asked Questions — Muskox
Is a muskox a type of ox?
What is qiviut?
Why do muskoxen form a circle?
What do muskoxen eat in winter?
Sources and further reading
Authoritative wildlife references used for general educational context. Conservation status should always be verified against current IUCN Red List data. External links open in a new tab.
- UniversityAnimal Diversity Web — Ovibos moschatus (muskox) — University of Michigan species account
- Wildlife referenceSmithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute — Animals — Educational species pages from the Smithsonian Institution
- Wildlife referenceIUCN Red List of Threatened Species — Authoritative source for current conservation status