Musk ox killed in Kotzebue after it posed a threat to residents

Alaska Wildlife Troopers on Monday killed a musk ox that was posing a threat to the public in Kotzebue, troopers’ spokesperson John Dougherty said. No one was harmed and nothing was damaged during the incident, troopers said.

A musk ox was seen outside of Kotzebue on Sunday, and an Alaska Fish and Game biologist for hours tried to haze the animal away from town, without success, Dougherty said. On Monday, morning, troopers received multiple calls about the musk ox in Kotzebue.

When a wildlife trooper and Fish and Game biologist responded to the call, “the musk ox was bedded down in a yard in the middle of Kotzebue without any direct departure routes to haze it away,” Dougherty said.

“There was a significant enough risk of injury to local residents or damage to their property,” Dougherty said, so the trooper dispatched the animal around 9:30 a.m., Dougherty said.

Earlier on Monday, Maniilaq Association notified Kotzebue residents about the musk ox in a Facebook post, saying that the animal was “roaming around the Kotzebue area, last sighted near ‘old’ teacher housing on the lagoon.” Health officials asked residents to not approach or agitate the animal and to keep their dogs under control.

Cyrus Harris, a Kotzebue resident who is in charge of Maniilaq’s hunter support program, said that the animal was a younger bull.

With the help of Alaska Technical Center students, Harris and other residents processed and put away the animal, Harris said. The meat will be donated to residents at Utuqqanaat Inaat, Maniilaq’s long-term care facility, he said.

The hide and skull were surrendered to Fish and Game, Dougherty said.

Musk oxen rarely attack humans, but in December 2022, an employee of Alaska’s Department of Public Safety was killed in Nome in an encounter with a musk ox. Nome residents have reported conflicts between musk oxen and dogs happening more frequently in recent years.