MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The musk oxen living on the Taimyr Peninsula stopped settling in the western part and began exploring the peninsula's eastern part, Deputy Director of Taimyr's Nature Reserves Mikhail Bondar told TASS.
"We can watch quite an interesting picture in the Taimyr population's spatial structure. They have settled quite actively in the Taimyr's western part and have reached almost as far as the Yenisei. This movement has been taking place over recent 10-15 years. This year, we have flown above the entire western part of the peninsula and we have met only isolated individuals, that could not give any statistics, and at the same time, to the east of Lake Taimyr we have seen quite a lot of them," he said.
The Taimyr Peninsula is enclosed between the Khatanga and the Yenisei rivers. Musk oxen mostly live in the central part near Lake Taimyr. During the Pyasina - 2022 expedition, scientists found a fairly high density of musk oxen in the basins of the Bikada-Nguoma, the Bolshaya Balakhnya Rivers and in the vicinity of Lake Taimyr. The animals there were seen in groups of 14-17 animals. However, scientists have not noticed large accumulations of these animals, and the biggest herd numbered 29 individuals.
"The population is trying to gain a foothold in new territories, in the west, due to the settling individuals," the scientist continued. "These individuals are trying to create some kind of family cells, but, unfortunately, this does not work. Here, the factors are the snow cover depth, the availability of feed, climatic changes. At times, also the illegal hunting. Most likely, the individuals, that go far away, die."
About musk oxen
Musk ox (muskox) is a massive animal with a large head, short neck, and powerful rounded horns. Adults have thick and long hair hanging down to the ground. Males weigh up to half a ton, females less. They look like bison, but today most scientists attribute them to the goat subfamily. This duality is expressed in their name. Musk oxen lived in the vast territories of Siberia, including the Taimyr, about 3,000 years ago, archaeologists say. The herds grazed next to mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses. The climate changes and the hunting have led to the extinction of these animals.
About 50 years ago, began the program to return musk oxen to Siberia. In 1974, Canada's government presented ten musk oxen to the Soviet Union. They were transported to the Bikada River area. Later on, another herd from the US was brought to the Taimyr Peninsula. Eight years later, the Taimyr population was 66 musk oxen. To date, the population there is a few thousand, scientists believe. From the Taimyr, the animals have been resettled into other regions: Yakutia, Yamal, and Magadan.