BETHEL, Alaska (AP) - A group of musk oxen was spotted between Bethel and three villages, prompting a state wildlife biologist to recommend that people traveling on trails go around the animals.
About eight of the animals were spotted over the weekend between the hub town and the villages of Nunapitchuk, Atmautluak and Kasigluk, KYUK (https://is.gd/xdWyfd) reported.
State wildlife biologist Patrick Jones in Bethel warned that people should go around the musk oxen and to leash their dogs if they are going to be near the animals.
“If you approach a musk ox they have a stubbornness in them so they’re just gonna bunch up and hold tight and they’re not going to give up the spot that they’re on,” Jones said. “A lot of times you can get 100, 50 yards away from them without stressing them out too much and take pictures without stressing them out too much. On the other hand they really, really do not like dogs.”
Musk oxen in the state are descendants of animals brought from Greenland after Alaska’s population died out.
The animals around Bethel have been migrating across the ice from Nelson Island.
State biologists estimate that about 200 of the animals are in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The population would need to number 2,000 before a hunt would be allowed, according to biologists.
Even though there’s no hunt in the region, taking a moose would be considered an out-of-season kill, a misdemeanor offense that can carry penalties of up to a year in jail, $10,000 fine and $3,000 restitution for the taking of the animal. The same incarceration time and fine, but not restitution, can apply to harassing game, also a misdemeanor offense.
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Information from: KYUK-AM, https://www.kyuk.org
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