The muskox | A newcomer in the Norwegian landscape
The Norwegians rarely admit alien species into their fauna, with one notable exception: the muskox — which was first welcomed back to mainland Norway from Greenland in 1924.
Muskox fossils
In 1913, Norwegian railway workers found muskox fossils in the mountainous region of Dovre in Oppland, central Norway. The fossils date back to warmer intermittent periods during the ice ages, long before the first humans arrived in this part of the world. Human history in Norway only began after the end of the most recent ice age, some 11,500 years ago. Scientists do not believe that the muskox existed in Scandinavia between then and modern times.