Arctic animals settle in at park

Feb 7 2012

The only musk oxen in the UK have gone on show at a Scottish wildlife park.

Mother Karin and daughter Madelon are the first of the animals to be imported to the UK for 24 years, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland said.

They arrived at the society-owned Highland Wildlife Park at Kingussie last month and spent some time settling in before making their public debut.

A special enclosure had to be built for the Arctic animals because of their "inherently destructive and aggressive nature".

Douglas Richardson, animal collection manager at the park, said: "The Highland Wildlife Park is delighted to have the only two musk ox in the UK, a species that has not been imported into this country for over 24 years, and being able to share these powerful and prehistoric animals with the public is wonderful.

"Our musk ox duo mother Karin and daughter Madelon have been settling in nicely to their new home here at the park over the last few weeks and today saw them take their first steps out in front of the cameras.

"Musk ox have a notorious reputation for being aggressive and bad-tempered, so we were surprised to find that the pair were a little shy and unsure, preferring not to venture out right away.

"Now that the girls have had a little time to adjust and are now quite happy, they seem to be enjoying exploring their outdoor enclosure, although we're sure that mother and daughter will live up to their reputation in time."

The park plans to introduce a bull musk ox later this year. Adult females weigh an average 200kg (31.5 stone) and males weigh an average 300kg (47 stone).

Musk ox live mainly in Arctic Canada and Greenland but populations have been re-introduced to Alaska and Siberia where they had become extinct at the end of the 19th century. A small population has also been established in Norway. During the last ice age the species was found in the UK.