Hunting season of Musk Oxen stranded in ice floe starts

Big game officials announced of opening hunting season of musk oxen. Owing to warm temperatures, the ice sheets start melting and enter into the Bering Sea. When the oxen get stuck on the ice, they either starve or drown.

Therefore, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said on Thursday that it will allow hunters to hunt herds found on drifting ice ion water adjacent to Nunivak and Nelson islands. Patrick Jones, an assistant state area biologist said that it happens after every few years.

In annual March meeting in Anchorage, the Alaska Board of Game has taken a decision that allows hunting of stranded mush oxen. The new guidelines will be applicable on the current hunting season. As per the law, resident can hunt the oxen without requiring a permit.

But it shall be noted that hunters are allowed to hunt two musk oxen per person. They are also required to provide photographic evidence through the means of cell phone or camera. The proof has to be shown to assure that the oxen were stranded on an ice floe before it was hunted.

The department wants to cut the populations to a manageable number. Owing to the leniency in regulation policy, a rise has been seen in the musk oxen population in the Nunivak and Nelson island regions.