Family is everything if you want to stay alive in the Arctic wilderness

SURPRISINGLY GENTLE AND AFFECTIONATE, this musk ox and her two calves were seen playing with one another in the Norwegian mountains. From birth, the young will stick close to their mothers for safety, and this shaggy trio almost form the silhouette of a single ox braced against the biting Arctic winds.

Wolves pose the biggest threat and if a pack approaches a herd of musk oxen, they will form a fearsome defensive circle around their infants, with their sharp horns facing outwards. When necessary, a mother will charge at a predator to scare them away.

But in more peaceful times, winter days for this herbivorous bovine are spent pawing at the snow for grass, lichen and moss. An extremely thick coat made of outer ‘guard’ hairs and super-insulative, shorter ‘qiviut’ hairs keeps them warm.

Thankfully, these magestic relics of the last Ice Age are legally protected in Canada, as well as Alaska, Siberia and Norway, where they have been successfully reintroduced.

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“It’s a miracle they’ve survived”

“Climbing up the snowy mountain to observe these musk oxen in their natural element made me feel like I was living in another age,” says Israeli wildlife photographer Amit Eshel, who also creates animal-inspired jewellery. “It’s a miracle that they’ve survived the changes of our planet to this day – they are here to stay and must be protected.”