musk-oxen has the shape of a short-legged cow. The powerful animals have a withers-height of 130 cm with a weight until 380 kg. The dark fur is long and shaggy, it consists of long Grannen and plentiful sub-wool. Old males show a light saddle-stain on the back where the sub-wool is not covered by Grannen. The ears almost vanish in the luxuriant fur. The horns almost collide with its basis on the vertex. they are bulge-nicely widened in this area. The horns grow densely at the head along downward, then bend and grow with the top upward. The wide claws prevent sinking in in soft reason.
Habitat Musk-oxen live in the dry tundra. During the ice age, they occurred also in Central Europe's tundra. In many places this type lives in coast-proximity and hikes over frosted inlets from island to island.
Way of life The musk-oxen form herds of 15-100 animals. The herd-size depends on the food-offer. The more feed, the small the association. Several adult bulls are usually represented in a herd. Opposite the females, they are in the minority. Also male-herds occur. In the summer, musk-oxen are day-active and like to wallow in mud-holes.
With danger, the herd forms a fortress. The animals form a circle and turn its heads outside. The calves take it into the middle. Individual bulls decide on sudden cancellations in direction on the opponent. Enemies of the musk-oxen are wolves and bears.
In the blizzard, the herd forms a wedge-shaped dense association with an old male at the top. The calves are taken into the middle. The animals turn the back to the wind on that occasion.
Reproduction In August, the Brunft begins, in which the males have fights among each other. After approximately 270 days of Tragzeit, a calf is placed in May / June. The Kälbersterblichkeit is big in wet and cold weather. The females toss only every 2-3 years.
Food Musk-oxen eat the instincts of the polar-pasture, grass, herbs, lichens and fungi.
Nature conservation In many places, the musk-ox already is out wiped. In protectorates, however, it succeeded to increase it. The type was naturalized on pointed-mountains, in Norway, South-Greenland on which Wrangelinsel and in again-naturalized in Alaska. The continuances generally recovered that a restricted Bejagung possibly is outside the protectorates.
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