Muskox

The muskox is a large, shaggy-coated hoofed mammal adapted to the Arctic tundra of North America and Greenland, with reintroduced and remnant populations in parts of Scandinavia and Russia, recognized by its long, coarse outer coat that nearly reaches the ground and a dense, insulating undercoat called qiviut that helps it survive extreme cold. When threatened by predators such as wolves, muskoxen often form a defensive circle or line with the herd's most vulnerable members protected in the center and adults facing outward, horns lowered. They feed on grasses, sedges, mosses and lichen, often digging through snow to reach vegetation during the long Arctic winter. Muskox populations were severely reduced by overhunting in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but have recovered through protection and reintroduction, and the species is classified as being of least concern.