Muskoxen: the tundra’s ultimate survivors

The muskox, that shaggy-coated, white-stockinged, short-legged, warty-lipped, thick-skulled, inbred, plant-munching, cold-loving, sociable beast of the Arctic, the ultimate survivor.

When the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, remorselessly excised mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and cave lions from the book of life, muskoxen, who shared the same landscapes, somehow pulled through.

They dodged fate again about a century ago, reduced to a few tiny pockets in northeastern Greenland and in Canada after being commercially hunted for hides almost to extinction. In 1917, with perhaps only 400 remaining in the country, the Canadian government halted the hunt — almost a moot point by then — and muskoxen began their slow climb back from the brink.

It was a Canadian adventure, touching transnational coasts. And like most worthwhile encounters, people were the common connection. But my domestic excursion began overseas. In Norway. Where I trekked while I researched my Gone Viking travel memoirs, specifically, Gone Viking III: The Holy Grail (RMBooks, 2023).

I was seaside in Oslo, touring exhibits, concluding the day at a Viking Ship Museum. Two of the featured displays were the Oseberg and Gokstad, hand-crafted longships, a visceral blend of function and design. The former constructed, it’s believed, not to sail but to facilitate an elaborate burial, shuttling royalty to Valhalla. Effectively an art installation, designed as a vessel of oak, its role to serve as a coffin. The Oseberg almost certainly never touched water, but still it appeared seaworthy, as though awaiting a crew of rowers, a sail and a breeze. The second craft on display, however, the Gokstad, was very much a ship of the sea.

Plus: Rapidly evolving cod, surprise science, two new bird monitoring stations and how to protect clams against extreme heat

By Sarah Brown, Luke Faulks, and Madigan Cotterill

Where there’s fire, there’s smoke… and a whole lot of it has been blowing down to southern Ontario and Quebec in recent days. With a worse-than-usual fire season in full swing, the haze is affecting more than just humans. On June 10, for the first time in history, animals at the Toronto Zoo were seriously threatened by the city’s poor air quality, ranked one of the worst in the world. Like humans, animals that are young, old, pregnant or have a history of respiratory issues are more prone to the negative effects of air pollution. These animals were immediately brought inside.

To check the other animals’ levels of distress, zoo staff examined their abdomens and made note of how quickly they were moving as they breathed — those breathing more quickly than usual were sent inside to join the animals at a higher risk. Precautions were also taken by engaging in “enrichment and training,” adding toys and scents to habitats to create a calming and safe environment.

Professional wildlife photographer Ryan Tidman has an up-close view of the damaging impact logging old-growth forests is having on Vancouver Island. The Trebek Initiative Grantee is investigating how cutting down the last remaining giant cedars and redwoods is taking away the dens of the island’s black bear population. On that rainy island, caves are too wet for bears to live in, so holes in giant trees are where they spend their winters and raise their young. But for how much longer, and what can be done?

Check out these other upcoming trips:
- Saskatchewan Whooping Cranes with Carol Patterson
- Canadian Badlands and Rocky Mountains with George Kourounis
- Newfoundland Circumnavigation with Jenny Wong