What's so great about Ovibos moschatus?

What weighs between 500 and 800 pounds, roamed the earth with formidable Ice Age creatures, and produces materials needed to create some of the most luxuriously soft garments available?

Musk ox, of course!

"These guys were marching around with Woolly Mammoths and saber-toothed cats …" said Musk Ox Development Corporation director Lansing Teal. "[What's great about them is] you can come see an Ice Age animal."

Musk ox have been full-time Valley residents for 18 years, but likely traveled through the area for much of the past 600,000 years. The arctic ungulates, which are neither oxen nor sport musk glands, likely wandered across the Bering Land Bridge during the Pleistocene era. According to fossil records, they strayed as far south as Ohio during the last ice age. Although they were hunted to extinction in Alaska by the 1860s, wild populations still exist in Canada's Northwest Territory and northeast Greenland.

And with just one look at the furry beast, it's apparent it's built to survive the extreme weather conditions of the arctic. Every fall, musk ox grow an extremely fine layer of under-wool -- qiviut -- that protects them from temperatures down to 100 degrees below zero.

It's that wool that has sparked the comeback of musk ox herds in Alaska. More than 45 years ago, John Teal began researching musk ox with the intent of reviving the near-extinct animal and providing a monetary boost to impoverished villages in coastal Alaska. He secured a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and, with help, began Alaska's first domestic musk ox farm in Fairbanks in 1964.

After harvesting qiviut for several years and spinning it into yarn, Teal's Musk Ox Project staff began teaching workshops to women in Bush villages such as Mekoryuk, Bethel, St. Mary's and Tununak how to knit the lacy pattern used for qiviut garments. A year later, Oomingmak, a knitters' cooperative, was formed. Today, according to information from the farm, more than 200 Eskimo women belong to the cooperative and, through the sales of qiviut products at the Anchorage Oomingmak store, bring home cash income vital to their families' survival.

The Palmer farm staff focuses primarily on public awareness and science, according to Lansing Teal.

"We're the non-profit arm," Teal said. "We do research and education -- and we also raise the animals and provide the qiviut."

The Musk Ox Farm opens for the summer season Sunday, with its annual Musk Ox and Moms celebration. Moms can come see the musk ox for free, and others are admitted for $1. The new musk ox calves are ready for viewing -- as of last week, five new calves were ready for viewing and three musk ox cows were still expecting to deliver. In addition to watching cavorting young calves, hot dogs and other refreshments will be available for purchase and the farm's gift shop will be open.

Although weather often plays a factor, Teal said he expects a large crowd at the annual kickoff. Last year, he said, more than 2,000 people attended -- the farm's largest attendance to date.

For more information about the farm, call 745-4151 or visit the Musk Ox Farm Web site at www.muskoxfarm.org.