The introduced muskoxen of Poluostrov Taymyr

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Yakushkin, G.D., Barr, W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1988
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Canada; Taymyr; Ozero; Poluostrov Taymyr; Ozero Taymyr; Bikada; Bikada-; Banks Island; Nunivak; Nunivak Island; ovibos moschatus; Polar Record; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740000961x; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740000961X

Abstract In 1974–75 30 muskoxen Ovibos moschatus were introduced to the tundra of Poluostrov Taymyr, ten from Banks Island NWT, Canada and 20 from Nunivak Island, Alaska. Originally enclosed in large corrals near a special research station in the Bikada valley, at the east end of Ozero Taymyr, the animals were released in 1980/82. The first calf to survive infancy was born in 1978; since then the death rate has been extremely low. By July 1987 the population had risen to 230, running in 10–12 herds. Most of the animals still range close to the Bikada valley, but one herd of 40 animals has moved noth across the main range of Byrranga Gory. Bachelor bulls wander even farther afield, up to 300 km from the release site. In August 195 two bulls appeard at Mys Chelyuskina, the northernmost tip of the continent.