| Show plan to protect arctic musk oxen valuable animal threatened with extinction washington the recent birth of two musk oxen in alaska the first in a cent century ury may be the beginning ot of a new deal for this remarkable animal which has hag been threatened with extermination by eskimos indians explorers and hunters beyond the tree limit on bleak treeless tun dras deserted by man and most animals lives the musk ox one animal that thrives in balz saysa says baysa a national geographic society bulletin bullet in over the frozen prairies of the barren grounds where no indians indiana dwell and across vasti expanses too cold for eskimos the musk ox plods through the darkness and whispering silence of the arctic night cropping frozen grass that sticks up through thin snow pausing occasionally blonell sio nally to ru nib b frost from its eyes g zing contentedly as a cow in a sunny pasture pRo dure the musk ox wanders from the barren grounds to cape morris jesup where the no northernmost r th point of land meets the glittering ice fee of polar sea under the musk coxs shaggy dark coat protecting him from bitter winds la Is a dense coat of wool sheds winter suit in the arctic summer the musk ox sheds its ite unnecessary wool to 0 t those ll 11 0 s 0 familiar with thi the protective tec e e coloration 0 1 of arctic animals tho the silvery white polar bear snowy wolves and owls the dark brown coat of the musk oi ox seems to afford no protection protect iori such Is not the case grazing not on snow but on dark windswept areas or snowy slopes strewn with large boulders the musk ox might well be mistaken for another boulder hereditary enemies of musk oxen are the wolves although they can do little damage to a herd of adults they follow it to seize the stray calves and sickly old musk oxen driven out of the herd seeing a musk ox walking along a hill crest heavy head and massive body bulking balking large against the sky hunters have thought him a small buffalo although his shaggy hide makes him appear larger the average musk ox Is only about the size of Illi highland liland cattle he usually stands about four feet high and his average weight Is pounds dressed ills robe of straggling dark brown hair stiff as a horses mane grows to great length sometimes 20 inches and trails trall sAn in the tha snow enow eskimos call the musk music ox oo 00 alb muk which means animal with skin like a beard in the tee roots of this coat grows the protective live coat of wool the hoofs of the musk ox are hairy underneath which makes him sure footed on the most slippery slip perylee ice feeds on Hill hillsides sides like the goat the musk coxs favorite feeding grounds are aie on rocky hillsides hill sides which in spite of his short massive legs he ascends with agility hunters have marveled at the ease and speed with which startled musk oxen have run aw away ay from 0 them although Althou gli classed with walrus and polar bear as the big game of the north shooting a mask musk ox Is about as difficult and as much sport as shooting a cow in a pasture startled a herd will run but not far to form a huddled trembling mass mas that stands facing the enemy until shot down with their bows and copper tipped arrows and lances eskimo hunters did not seriously deplete the herds but since explorers gave them rifles they have slaughtered hundreds upon hundreds without think ang of the future the juicy steaks of musk oxen I 1 have saved the lives alvs of many arctic explorers frostbitten frost bitten and starving pemmican exhausted caches lost explorers have fallen on a herd na as on manna zoological gardens caused further extinction of musk oien by offering apiece for young ones onea however the twentieth century in its battle for the preservation of natural resources has taken steps to save from extinction this valuable animal various countries have passed laws protecting it some require licenses to hunt it and a few are importing and breeding herds and setting aside sanctuaries for them |
