European wildlife: Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) in the process of charging another male, Dovrefjell National Park, Norway.

It is hard to decide on the right shutter speed to capture some of the action of a charging muskox. It is trial and error and to some degree also about forcing luck by spending a lot of time and making lots of images. In this case I chose to slow the shutter speed down to 1/125 seconds and panned the camera and lens along with the fast moving animal. The rear of the animal is partially blurred because of the motion and kicked-up snow, while the head is still sufficiently sharp; exactly what I was looking for! ... and the white snow in foreground and background did the rest.

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Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) in the process of charging another male, Dovrefjell National Park, NorwayMuskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) in the process of charging another male, Dovrefjell National Park, Norway. Muskoxen evolved in Asia and adapted to arctic tundra environments. Muskoxen became extinct in Europe (last records are from Sweden about 9,000 years ago) and Asia (last records are from the Taymyr peninsula in Russia about 2,000 years ago), probably primarily as a result of over hunting by people. Muskoxen crossed into North America from Siberia between 200,000 and 90,000 years ago and they survived in Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland. Muskoxen were reintroduced in Europe and Asia relatively recently. Muskoxen were first reintroduced in Dovrefjell National Park in Norway in 1931-1932, but these animals were all killed during the second world war. A second reintroduction attempt (1947-1953) was successful though. The muskoxen population size in Dovrefjell National Park is currently estimated at several hundred individuals.