Studies on the release of musk oxen near Ilulissat

Mayor of Avannaata Municipality, Lars Erik Gabrielsen (Siumut), proposes to convert an area in Nunatarsuaq, which is connected to the Ice Sheet east of Ilulissat, into an area for musk oxen.

He believes that the project could provide financial support for the hunters in the long term.

The proposal has already received positive reactions from the fishing and hunting association IAPP in Ilulissat.

A work started

If a muskox population is established in Nunatarsuaq, which is connected to the Ice Sheet east of Ilulissat, the mayor of Avannaata Municipality, Lars Erik Gabrielsen, believes that the hunting industry can benefit from it for many years to come.

When the municipal council of Avannaata Municipality held a meeting in mid-February, the proposal to establish a muskox population was therefore on the agenda.

A majority of the municipal council supported the proposal, which, among other things, requires studies of how it will affect various professions – including fishermen who sail to Ilulissat Icefjord.

Nikolaj Jensen, acting director of the department for fisheries and hunting in Avannaata Municipality, states that the Self-Government has already been contacted with a view to getting the work started.

Thorough investigations

According to the Government of Greenland, extensive and thorough investigations are required before permission can be granted to establish musk oxen in the area.

Moving or releasing musk oxen requires approval from the Greenland Government. In addition, the Institute of Natural Resources must assess whether the area is suitable for musk oxen. The investigation must include, among other things, an assessment of the grazing conditions and the environmental consequences.

A veterinarian must also be involved to ensure that the animals are handled and treated correctly.

Once these investigations have been completed and a decision has been made on where and how many musk oxen are to be relocated, the final plan for the relocation must be approved by the Greenland Government.

The municipality that wishes to release musk oxen is also obliged to prepare a management plan for the population.

Such a plan may include, among other things, musk ox hunting, musk wool collection and other opportunities to exploit the animals – for example in connection with tourism.

The municipality must also pay for the counting of musk oxen and cover the costs of monitoring and managing the population.

A number of attempts

Over the years, there have been several attempts to establish populations of musk oxen.

In 2017, the former member of Inatsisartut, Jess Svane (Siumut), asked Naalakkersuisut about the possibilities of establishing a musk ox population in Qeqertarsuaq. According to a response from the then Naalakkersuisut, the former municipality of Qeqertarsuaq helped finance a study of the vegetation in the area in 1993 with a view to assessing the possibilities of releasing musk oxen.

However, the studies showed that Qeqertarsuaq was not suitable for musk oxen. One of the reasons was, among other things, that the grass species kobresia – which is used as food by musk oxen and reindeer – does not occur in the area.

A project that has received support

In winter, you can reach Nunatarsuaq from Ilulissat by dog ​​sled in about three hours. If musk oxen are released in the area, it could strengthen the economy of the trappers in Ilulissat and the surrounding settlements, believes Peter Frederik Olsen, chairman of the fishing and trapper association IAPP in Ilulissat.

– IAPP has repeatedly asked to increase the quota for trappers in Ilulissat, but this has not been successful.

– Furthermore, we do not have permission to hunt musk oxen in Nassuttooq. Therefore, it is positive to support the efforts to release musk oxen in Nunatarsuaq, he says.

Of the total of 120 quotas allocated to Naternaq this winter season, only 21 have been drawn for trappers in Ilulissat – and that is not sufficient, believes the IAPP chairman.