"Muskoxen, shaggy denizens of the Far North, are creatures long enveloped in myth. In this first major work on the muskox, Peter C. Lent presents a comprehensive account of how its fortunes have been intertwined with our own since the glaciations of the Pleistocene era."--BOOK JACKET.

"Drawing from paleontology, archaeology, anthropology, and Indian and Inuit lore, Lent examines muskoxen in prehistory. Changing concepts in biology, conservation and management, animal husbandry, and contemporary arctic economics complete the picture. In uniting these themes, Lent refutes the idea that the muskox is an "ice age relict," arguing that it was never numerous, even during the glacial era. Through the years, human hunting further depressed muskox numbers and limited natural range expansion.

Yet this is ultimately a conservation success story. Once considered an endangered species, the muskox today has an expanding economic role in northern lands."--BOOK JACKET.