A breeding program to help introduce muskox in Quebec has led to a new pilot program to hunt some.
The provincial natural resources department on Wednesday announced it will allow a limited kill of up to six animals up until the end of this month, while it continues to gather data about the muskox population in the province.
Permit holders will be required to hire an Inuit outfitter for the hunt, which is allowed specifically in the area between the communities of Kuujjuaq and Tasiujak on Ungava Bay, the province said.
Muskox, found largely in Canada’s far northwest, arctic islands and Greenland, were introduced to Quebec between 1973 and 1983, during which time 54 muskox, born in captivity on a breeding farm near Kuujjuaq, were released into the wild, the province said. The animals came from seed stock from Nunavut’s Ellesmere Island.
The ministry now estimates the province’s muskox population at around 1,500 head and said it’s now possible to allow a limited hunt without compromising the species’ population density.
