What are musk oxen?

Musk oxen are shaggy-haired mammals which resemble a small buffalo.  They line in the arctic barrens of North America.

The musk ox, is an odd-looking animal that resembles a small, shaggy-haired buffalo. A fully grown musk ox may be little over four feet high at the shoulders and weight 700 pounds.

The musk ox is not really as ox.  It is a relative of goats and antelopes. The first part of the animal’s name is also inaccurate – it has no musky odor, as was once believed.

In the wild, must oxen are found on the treeless tundra and snowfields of Canada and Greenland. They travel in small herds.  When threatened by wolves that, prey upon them, the herd forms a protective circle around the young.  No wise wolf would attack such a fortress of tossing honors!

Once united almost to extinction, the now-protected musk oxen are being raised much like sheep for the silky wool, called “quiviut” that grows underneath their shaggy coats. Garments made of quiviut are very warm and tight in weight. - Dick Rogers