This impressive ice age animal has for the last 40 years created a completely new income base for Greenland. Trophy hunters from all over the world come to the area to experience the hunt for the Musk Ox.
FACTS
Latin name: Ovibos moschatus
English name: Musk Ox
Greenlandic name: Umimmak (the bearded)
Weight: 200-400 kg
Lifespan: 12 – 20 years
Family: Bovidae
Speed: 60 km / h (Maximum, Adult)
Height: 1.1 – 1.5 m (Adult, Shoulder height)
Pregnancy period: 243 – 274 days
Length: Male: 2 – 2.5 m (Adult), Female: 1.4 – 2 m (Adult).
The total Greenlandic stock of musk oxen today is unknown. The latest counts of musk oxen in Northeast Greenland are approx. 20 years old and estimated the stock to be 9-13,000 animals. There is more knowledge about the introduced population at Kangerlussuaq / Søndre Strømfjord. In the 1960s, 27 bulls were exposed and this stock had the fastest growth rate in the world over the next four decades.
It is estimated that the current stock is 10-25,000 animals. Less knowledge is available about the other introduced populations in West Greenland, but much indicates that they have also experienced good growth. Quoted hunting has also been introduced here.
Private Photo