Musk Ox

This is the Musk Ox. They are an endangered species which almost died out i think, and was reintroduced to several locations like norway and greenland in effort to raise its population. To date, about 80,000 to 125,000 exist.

Musk Ox males are very aggressive during the mating season, which according to wikipedia is in the peak of august, and they would attack even birds that land in their territory. They have huge sharp horns and thick skulls- in combination called the Boss. They are also capable of running 65km/h.

Muskoxen stand 1.2 m (3 ft 11.2 in) high at the shoulder on average, with females measuring 135 to 200 cm (53.1 to 78.7 in) in length, and males 200 to 250 cm (78.7 to 98.4 in). Adults, on average, weigh 285 kg (628 lb) and range from 180 to 400 kg (397 to 882 lb).
There is only one place to find them in Norway, and that is the Dovre mountain range. We stayed a night in a ...hmm, sort of hotel for a night. There were many activities to do there, ranging from horse back riding (lasts 3 hours) to canoeing and going on guided tours to find wild animals like the musk ox and elk. But these activities come at a high price, with horse riding costing about 350nkr and guided tours 435nkr PER PERSON.

A woman told Mary she saw Musk ox while on those horse rides round the mountains, and that it had began to show signs of aggression shortly after she started taking pictures. ( no surprise, they're one huge group of people on horses.) Aggression = lowered head to its knee and stomps.

So the next morning, Robert decided to take us on a drive trip around the mountains ( you pay 50nkr to get in XD ) to look for the Musk ox.

lo behold, it was about 15 minutes or so drive in before we found a small group of 3, but 2 of them went further down the mountain and we lost sight of them. One of them got curious though, i think. It came wandering our way.

now.... warnings on the brochures and by staff was not to get near the musk ox. brochures specifically state to stay 200 meters away at ALL times.

however.... its a rare opportunity to get to see these buggers, so i had to get out of the car and try take better pics. we all did actually. it was at that point perhaps a safe 100 meters away? ;D

it seemed very docile though, i had no worries. i started happily taking pictures, and even with my new 70-300mm zoom lens i was not satisfied. ( i probably would never be unless i was 3 meters from the ox or have those mega zoom lens) so i was mumbling to myself 'come to mama..'. be careful what you wish for, because that ox started walking over slowly while chewing greenery all around.

Robert tried to get us back into the car, obviously with our safety in mind. Tina just goes 'but WHY?' XD. in my defence, i didnt see any signs of aggression. The ox just looked very calm and it couldnt care less.

Anyway, the result was the ox coming 50 meters within range, and we all got to snap happy pics of it while outside the car. Perhaps not knowing how fast these animals can move at that time was ignorant bliss huh?
very sadly though, i didnt manage to get pictures when it was the closest as Mary had borrowed my lens. She's got the better cam though, and i got my own pics.

so there you have it, a refreshing experience that makes me wonder if i should become a wild life photographer XD. Or like aarthi said, i should take pics for national geographic.