Site Menu Issues Endangered Species Wetlands Alaska Resources
Alaska

YUKON DELTA MUSK OXEN IMAGE
Photograph by Joel Sartore
A space to roam

On Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea, part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, herds of musk oxen transplanted from Greenland have prospered because the island is devoid of animal predators. Alaska’s original herds were slaughtered by the mid-19th century. Today about 70 animals are taken yearly, half by sport hunters who fly in for trophy bulls. Eskimos who harvest musk oxen do so for the meat and underwool, called qiviut, used to make scarves and blankets.

©1996 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.

 

return to Alaska

| A vast laboratory | A way of life | A space to roam |