Muskoxen are occasionally stranded on islands with inadequate food and water resources for survival and the Alaska Board of Game has addressed this situation through regulation 5 AAC 92.046, which allows the Department to open a special season by emergency order, waive tag fees, and issue permits to take stranded muskoxen.
There is currently 1 muskox stranded on Triangle Island, a small island approximately 10 acres in size located 3 miles north of Nunivak Island. There are no sources of fresh water, limited forage on this island and survival of this muskox is unlikely.
Harvesting stranded animals through a permit hunt is the most prudent course of action. Permits for Unit 18 Triangle Island will be issued to resident hunters in the Bethel ADF&G office and by a Department Designee in the village of Mekoryuk. Tag fees are waived for this hunt and one muskox may be harvested per person. The season for this permit hunt is May 6, 2017 to June 30, 2017.
This news release was issued on May 5, 2017.