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Muskox
Distribution
About
90,000 years ago when the Bering Straits were dry land, muskoxen crossed
into North America from Siberia. When the last glacier covered North
America, muskoxen survived in ice-free areas or "glacial refugia"
in the northern arctic islands and Greenland. As the ice retreated, they
spread throughout northern Canada and Greenland, then westward into
Alaska.
Today most muskoxen in Canada are found on the arctic islands, especially
Banks, Ellesmere, Melville and Victoria Islands. On the mainland they are found in substantial numbers in the
area north of Great Bear Lake up to the arctic coast, and in the Queen
Maud Gulf area. Lesser
numbers are present in the Thelon Game Sanctuary and southwest to
Artillery Lake.
There
are approximately 105,000 muskoxen in the NWT with the majority of these
occurring on Banks (approximately 70000 non calf animals in 2001) and NW
Victoria Island (approximately 30,000 non calf animals in 2001).
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