Muskoxen: The Beast of the North

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Muskoxen The Beast of the North

• Julie Federer
• Zack Kellman
• Zack Weiss
• Erin Palm

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Modern Distribution

• Northeastern and Northwestern Alaska
• Northwestern Canada
• Eastern Greenland
• The High Arctic

http//www.rw.ttu.edu/sp_accounts/1520Muskox20(O
vibos20moschatus)20Life20History_ver2.pdf
www.ultimateungulate.com
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Biogeographic History

• Ancestors
• Bovine
• Mountain Goat
• Climate Changes
• Expanded south during last Glaciation (present as
  far south as Virginia and Iowa around 10,000bp)

http//www.fishwheat.com/images/muskox.jpg
http//jasperjournal.com/jaspergallery/d/448-3/mou
ntain_goat_1_5609_travel_alberta.jpg
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Biogeographic History cont.

• Archeological Remains
• First Record from Pleistocene
• Before 4,500bp
• Only 6 sites (YK, NT, NU)
• 4,500-3,600bp
• High Arctic Probably More
• 3,600-1,000bp
• High Arctic Western Low Arctic
• 1,000-150bp
• From CA-US border to Hudson Bay
• 1850ad-Present

www.ultimateungulate.com
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Life History

• Habitat
• Tundra
• Northern Boreal Forest
• Parts of its Life
• Reach maturity in 3-5 years
• Fall rut
• Gestation 8-9 months
• 1 calf/mother every 1-2 years
• Live for 20-25 years
• Strong social ties between cows, calves and
  yearlings
• Average herd - 15 animals

http//www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2007/20070306_t
reeline1.jpg
http//news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/
images/080818-arctic-grazing-missions_big.jpg
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Life History cont.

• Physical Characteristics
• Yearlings 150-235 lbs.
• Males 5 ft tall at the shoulder, 600-800 lbs.
• Cows 4 ft tall at the shoulder, 400-500 lbs.
• Horns
• Competitors
• Humans, wolves, brown bears, caribou
• Group defensive positioning

http//www.raydoan.com/images/18032327.jpg
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Life History cont.

• Eating Habits
• Generalist Characteristics Grazers
• Winter graminoids and dry dwarf shrubs
• Summer - graminoids, willows, and forbs
• Short migrations (75km) due to resource
  availability
• Energetically conservative ungulate
• Role in ecosystem
• Year-round food source for predators and
  scavengers
• Slow global warming!

http//arctic.fws.gov/images/muskoxen.jpg
http//www.tarleton.edu/range/Tundra/Tundra20Sli
des_files/Tundra10.jpg
http//www.raems.com/edibles/image001.gif
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Human Impact on Distribution Current
Conservation Status

• Mid to late 1800s Original population went
  extinct
• 1920s reduced to arctic Canada and E. Greenland
• 1930 protected population restored
• 1936 population rose to 750
• Little information on current populations
• Not currently listed as threatened

www.paulatkins.biz/images/muskox4.jpg
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Human Impacts Continued

• Global Warming
• Spill-Over of Pathogens
• Pollution

www.adventures.ca/.../images/nwt20.jpg
www.thelon.com/graphics/muskoxen.jpg
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Conclusion

• Muskoxen habitat has been largely unchanged due
  to its remoteness
• Species has survived through climatic occurrences
• Lessoning human
• impacts

www.dna.gfy.ku.dk/pc/muskox1.jpg
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References

• Darwent, C., 2004. Where the muskox roamed
  biogeography of tundra muskox (Ovibos moschatus)
  in the eastern arctic. Zooarchaeology and
  Conservation Biology. University of Utah Press,
  Salt Lake City, UT. pp. 61-87.
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• Forchhammer, M., Boomsma, J. 1995. Foraging
  strategies and seasonal diet optimization of
  muskoxen in West Greenland. Oecologia. Vol.
  104, pp. 169-180.
• Kutz, S., et al. 2008. Giardia assemblage A
  human genotype in muskoxen in the Canadian
  Arctic. Parasites Vectors. Vol. 1, Issue 32.
• Smith, T. 1994. Muskox. Alaska Department of
  Fish and Game. Retrieved 1/28/09 from
  http//www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame
  /muskoxen.php.
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• Thing, H., Klein, D., et al. 1987. Ecology of
  muskoxen in Jameson Land, northeast Greenland.
  Holarctic Ecology. Vol. 10, pp. 95-103.
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• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1995. Muskox
  Ovibus moschatus. Biologue Series. Retrieved
  1/28/09 from http//training.fws.gov/library/Pubs
  /muskox.pdf.
•  
• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). 2008, April
  27. Rare Musk Ox May Be Threatened By Climate
  Change. Science Daily. Retrieved February 3,
  2009, from http//www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20
  08/04/080424112455.htm
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