Musk Oxen, the Real Deal

By: Eddie & Akim

Claudia Ihl, a graduate student working for her Ph.D. at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks came to our class to teach the class about musk oxen. She also told us how they were over-hunted and died out all over North America. The Musk Oxen we see today were brought from Greenland.

During the slide show, she also told us that they eat sedges, grasses, lots of willow leaves and some wild flowers during the summer. In winter they eat moss and mountain avens. A musk ox can run up to 20 to 30 mph, which is surprisingly fast for a big animal. They run that fast when bulls are in rut or when they're scared. They cannot run very far, though. Musk oxen can swim, but they do not like to because their hair is not hollow and buoyant. They are not very good swimmers, so they try to avoid swimming. Their hair gets water logged and weighs them down.

Ms. Ihl also brought in a Musk Oxen skull and showed it to the class. Some students noticed a spirally thing in its nose and asked what it was. She said it is something to help heat up cold air they breath in before it gets to their lungs.