Musk ox migration

Man followed the musk ox
Around 5,000 years ago the musk ox migrated into Greenland over the sea ice from north-eastern Canada. At the same time, the country’s first human inhabitants, the Independence people, who lived on the musk ox, came into the country. At that time neither kayaks nor umiaks had been invented, so the nomadic race survived by hunting land mammals and fishing from the coast and in rivers.

Musk oxen are fast runners

Propagation in Greenland
The original musk ox population lives in Northeast Greenland, and from here animals have been transferred to other places in Greenland, including the Ivittuut area, the Naternaq plain southeast of Aasiaat and the area around Kangerlussuaq. Animals have also been exported to Alaska, Svalbard, Scandinavia and several zoological gardens.

The musk oxen around Kangerlussuaq
The natural conditions around Kangerlussuaq have proved to be particularly favourable for the musk ox. Thus the 27 animals that were transferred in 1962 and 1965 have developed into a population that today stands at 7,000 – 10,000 animals, one of the world’s largest concentrations of musk oxen. Furthermore, the animals at Kangerlussuaq are bigger and reproduce more quickly than those in other parts of Greenland.

Musk oxen can be seen within walking distance of inhabited areas. The local tour operators in Kangerlussuaq know as a rule where the animals are, and there are therefore good chances of seeing them on one of the musk ox safaris for which the area is renowned.

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