Chapter 1: Adapted to Arctic Cold

Could the woolly mammoth really have lived in the Far North at the height of the Last Glaciation, at 70°-80°N, just like the reindeer and the muskox of today? Would this elephant have found there enough to eat? Would this giant be able to live up there today, while it is much warmer? How much fodder is growing up there now?

The muskox is able, to live on the arctic tundra and polar desert also during the winter, where other large hoofed animals will freeze to death. The muskox is able, to endure in winter the blizzards, even though it is not able to hide then in some wooded areas. – Why? How does the muskox get in winter at its food, when the lushest spots on the low areas are drifted over with dense snow?

Claudia Ihl, a biologist, and Norbert Rosing, a photographer, report about the muskoxen, they have studied in northern North America. Claudia Ihl watched them on the Seward Peninsula, westernmost Alaska, at the Bering Straight. And Norbert Rosing took his pictures of the muskoxen on Victoria Island, one of the Canadian High Arctic Islands. They report in the journal GEO No. 2, February 2000, pp. 11-24 (German Edition), under the title, "Muskoxen: the cool warm-blooded animals":

A picture text says: Muskoxen on Victoria Island, facing away from the wind, the animals endure, with up to minus 50 degrees Celsius, the polar-storms. (2000:19)

Claudia Ihl then says: "From my hiding place, I observe the muskox bull, with his 350 kilos of weight. ... Whoever is studying the muskox, must spend a large part of his time watching them, while they are lying around; approximately half of the day, they are sleeping and ruminating. But they are not idling then around, but this helps them, to survive. Muskoxen – relatives of sheep and goat – often share their habitat with the caribou. This other arctic ungulate has also survived the end of the Ice Age. Both kinds of animals had to live now in a warmer, moister environment, where there is more snow. And they had to find out now, how to survive in the tundra, covering now must of the ground, where the vegetation grows slowly and is only partially edible.

"Caribou, with a faster metabolism and higher energy needs, are born athletes, who wander around for hundreds of kilometers, searching for vegetation, which they are able to digest well. Muskoxen, however, have become energy-savers, whose stomach-volumes and their leisurely digestion enable them, to utilize large quantities of relatively poor food.

"That is, why the energy-reserves of the muskox are quite low. A handicap, that especially effects them after snowfalls. Because with their short legs and heavy bodies, the animals are not prepared, to plow through deep snow or to dig craters, when searching for green feed beneath a blanket of snow, which is not too deep. The original home of the muskoxen were the dry cold-steppes of the ice age. Now these animals are at home in regions, where the ground is covered six to ten months of the year with snow." Ihl and Rosing (2000:21, 22)

"Hence, they cannot afford, to exert themselves too much. When more than 30 centimeters of snow have fallen, the muskoxen will avoid this area and move to near-by places, where there is less snow: they will move then onto ridges of hills, mountain-crests and the steep cut-banks at the river. There the wind has blown away the snow like dust. On these extremely restricted pastures, the muskoxen will spend at least half of the year – and they must survive there on an extremely meager supply of food: often only a few sedges, dry branches of dwarf-willows and cushions of mosses and lichens.

"The heavy-weights are able, to solve this problem, by turning their metabolism down very low. And they will live then off their fat-reserves, which they have put on during the summer. In this way, they are able, to live on one third of the feed-quantity, that they have taken in during the warmer months.

"Please, try now, to imagine this: On a day during the arctic winter, you are staying on top of a stormy mountain-crest. The temperature is about minus 40 degrees Celsius; but the temperature, which you are feeling, is approximately minus 60 to 70 degrees Celsius (= the wind chill effect). If you were forced, to minimize now your metabolism, this would force you into a state, where you would hardly be able to move around anymore. And you would be in danger, of freezing to death.

"How would one then be able, to stay alive? Muskoxen have protected themselves with one of the warmest hair-clothes of all types of mammals. Beneath the dark brown, silken guard hair, that becomes over a half meter long, an extraordinarily dense under-wool is growing every autumn, as fine as cashmere, which the Inuit (= Eskimos) call ‘qiviut’.

"Qiviut is eight times warmer, than sheep-wool. And it insulates so well, that a healthy muskox does not even seem to feel cold at minus 50 degrees Celsius. This thermo-protection is growing in a layer, that is at least as thick as the breadth of a hand. It covers the whole body, including the legs, also the ears and the face, and at the neck it even becomes 30 centimeters thick. A wreath of hairs protects the eyes from frostbite; also muzzle and nostrils are densely covered with hair. Only in the spring, when the under-wool gets loose in mats from the guard hair, the animals resemble for a few weeks unmade beds, that somebody has put into the tundra.

"The stocky bodies of the muskox have a relatively small surface, compared to its mass. And when they lie down, with their rear-end facing the wind – the short legs, folded beneath their body, the ears pressed into the dense neck-fur -, then they offer the biting air, also during hours-long blizzards, little target. Occasionally, whole herds let themselves be snowed in – until they do resemble snow-covered earthen hills". Ihl and Rosing (2000:22)

About fighting muskox bulls: "A one-centimeter thick horn-layer protects the skull of the bull. But such duels are still dangerous for the animals. Deadly injuries admittedly do occur rarely, but the bulls do use up then so much energy, that they use up much of their fat-reserves already, before the winter has begun. And this reduces their chances, to survive until the next spring.

"For the cows, another problem poses itself in the autumn: It is admittedly simple, to become pregnant, but quite difficult, to remain pregnant. Fetuses within cows, who do not have enough reserves, have a lower chance to survive. How often muskoxen do propagate, has therefore to do with the quality of their pasture. For example, in the poor cold-deserts of North Greenland, most cows, according to the available studies, calve only every second year. While many cows produce offspring annually on the relatively more luxuriant coastal-tundra of Alaska.

"The calves are born into the world in April or May. The snow is beginning to melt then. Sometimes there are late-wintry blizzards, sometimes the sun is shining mildly. The young weigh about ten to twelve kilograms. At first, they resemble with their dense, curly fur and their compact bodies more small, fat poodles, than ungulates. Already minutes after their birth, they are on their own feet. And, thanks to the milk of their mother, which is rich in fat and protein, during their first six months, they gain almost one pound every day.

"At the beginning of June, when the sun is standing 24 hours per day at the sky, and when the plants are shooting up from the ground, the great opportunity begins for the muskox. Along the riversides and in the valleys, they are looking then for fresh grasses, sedges, wild flowers, horsetails and willow-leaves. Especially the very first vegetation of the year is very nutritious. This helps the animals, to renew their body-reserves, and to produce milk for their calves. And it helps them, to put on already the first fat for the next winter. ... Muskox cows will get up to 20 years old. The bulls become already senile at the age of 15 years." Ihl and Rosing (2000:23)

Defense-circle

"The muskoxen have been able, to defend themselves for millennia against lions and saber-tooth-tigers, bears and wolves, by forming a defense-circle. But it has become completely useless against aggressors with arrow, spear or gun.

"The muskox has lived in the ice age steppe, together with mammoths, bison and wild horses. There are indications, that their number decreased slowly after the ice age, partially, because of the climatic changes, partially, because it was hunted by people. Drastic decimation the populations have suffered during the middle of the 19^th century, when whalers, traders and polar-researchers were wandering through the Arctic. One single hunter was able, to wipe out a whole herd within minutes. At the beginning of the 20^th century, the muskoxen were therefore wiped out in many places. Only a few herds had survived in outlying areas of North Canada and Greenland.

"Today, approximately 3000 animals are grazing again in the most northern federal state of the USA (= Alaska). They have also put them into North Siberia and West Greenland. Even larger-populations are living now again on Banks Island in Northwest-Canada, where muskoxen were hardly sighted before 1950. But then, they began to wander from the surrounding islands across the sea-ice to Banks Island. And there they grew then within only four decades into a population of approximately 50,000 animals – an astonishing comeback and one of the hardly known success-stories of the protection of animal species." Ihl and Rosing (2000:24)

The Canadian biologist J. S. Tener explains in his book, Muskoxen in Canada, about the hair coat of the muskox: "The adult muskox’s coat is comprised of a long, coarse outer layer and a short, fine underhair. The outer layer is usually darker, giving the species its characteristic colour. The outer hair, particularly on the flanks, throat, and beneath the belly is remarkably long. In bulls individual strands from the throat have measured 62 cm. And along the flank and belly at least 45 cm. ... The outer hair of the adult cow is not so long, as that of the adult bull, particularly in the throat region.

"The fine, soft underhair is five to seven centimetres in length. It covers the animal completely, except for the horns, nails of hoofs, lips, and a small patch at the tip of the nose. Many, who have seen the under-hair, have likened it to cashmere in quality. It is, undoubtedly, one of the principal reasons for the ability of the species, to withstand Arctic winter, providing an insulating blanket." Tener, J. S. (1965:59)

"The annual process of renewing the under-hair in musk-oxen begins in late April or early May, large patches separating from the skin. As summer approaches, the patches have moved through the outer hair, in which they are entangled and often hang from the animals in long tatters or streamers.

"By the middle of July, the inner hair has been shed, although it sometimes takes another month for the hair finally to fall from the animal. A new inner coat appears shortly after the old hair separates from the skin, and by the end of July many animals present a sleek, dark appearance. An exception is those cows, which gave birth to young. At Eureka, Ellesmere Island, for example, such cows were just beginning to shed at the end of June 1951. Their generally sleek appearance contrasted sharply with the patchy appearance of other adults, whose shedding was well advanced. Old bulls also often shed later." Tener, J. S. (1965:59, 60)

Paul F. Wilkinson is at the Department. of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Cambridge, and the Institute of Northern Agricultural Research, Alaska. He reports in his article, "The domestication of the muskox", in: Polar Record 15: 683-690 (1971) about the fine underwool of the muskox, known also as qiviut:

"Unlike most sheep, the Musk-ox sheds its underwool. Shedding begins in early April and is probably under photoperiodic control, with temperature perhaps playing a subsidiary role. The collection period lasts until early June, for pregnant cows do not shed until after calving. Mature bulls yield about 2.75 kg, and females and younger animals proportionally less. Only 115 gram of qiviut is enough, to knit a sweater for a large man, whereas an equivalent sweater in sheep’s wool would require 2 kg. Preliminary analysis of quiviut fibres show, that they are slightly finer on average, than those of cashmere, and they tend to be considerably longer. Indeed, qiviut is so free from contamination, and its lanolin content is so low, that it can be spun literally from the animal’s back." Wilkinson, P. F. (1971:685, 686)

This means: The under-wool of the muskox is 17 times finer, than that of the sheep. The grown muskox bull sheds about 2.75 kg fine under-wool (qiviut) in summer. They need only 115 g of this qiviut, to knit a sweater for a large man. From the 2.75 kg qiviut, they are able to knit 24 of those sweaters. From 2.75 kg of sheep’s wool, they are able to knit only 1.4 of those sweaters.

"The Musk-ox can dig through deep snow, to obtain the grasses, that form the bulk of its food. The food requirements of Musk-oxen resemble those of cattle: an adult bull consumes approximately 1 kg of hay per 45 kg of body weight per day. Although willow and alder are favourite foods, grasses constitute the bulk of the Musk-ox’s diet, supplemented in times of shortage by sedges and mosses." Wilkinson, P. F. (1971:686).

"After a good summer’s grazing, the bulls are at the peak of their physical fitness, and mature bulls weigh from 400 to 450 kg. Gestation lasts eight months, and the first calves arrive early in May, when the spring weather is usually warm, although there may still be snow on the ground." (1971:687)

"Calves stand within 20 to 30 minutes of birth and suckle 10 to 15 minutes later. Within two hours, most calves can walk and even run steadily for short distances. The average weight is about 10 kg for both sexes. Calves grow rapidly, and by the time they are weaned at four months, they weigh from 55 to 80 kg. For the first few weeks, calves suckle frequently, probably eight to ten times daily. By the age of three to four weeks, they begin to eat small quantities of grass, and by three months, the frequency of suckling has declined noticeably. Wild calves suckle for at least one year, because in their first winter, they are too small and weak, to dig through deep, hard-packed snow for food. As a result, wild cows conceive and bear a calf in alternate years." Wilkinson, P. F. (1971:688)

Professor Herwart Bohlken, Institute for Domestic Animals at the University of Kiel, North Germany, states in the Handbook of the Mammals of Europe (in German) (1986:352) about the muskox: "Typical is the compact, stocky shape, its long, dark fur, almost hanging down to its hooves, the hump above its shoulder and is relatively large head.

"The upper hair (guard hair) is rough and long (45-62 cm). The under-wool is soft and short (6-7 cm) and very dense (Pedersen 1958). Only its horns, hooves, lower lip, parts of the upper lip and a small piece of the nose-top are hairless. It has a distinctive mane, made up of upper- and under-hair, from the basis of the horns up to the withers in both sexes." Bohlken, H. (1986:352)

Adult bull muskox in summer, Bracebridge Inlet, Bathurst Island, N.W.T., July 1961. The long under-wool is coming out in long streamers. Photo by Donald Thomas. From: S. N. Tener, Muskoxen in Canada 1965. Canadian Wildlife Service.