In 2011, Swedish and Danish researchers fenced muskoxen out of test areas in Greenland. 3 years later, plants there absorbed only half as much carbon in summer

Muskoxen are among the Arctic's ancient survivors, but their importance extends beyond their ability to withstand some of the harshest conditions on Earth. As large herbivores, they help regulate and maintain healthy Arctic grasslands that function as carbon sinks.

Known by their Iñupiaq name Umingmak, meaning “The bearded one,” muskoxen have no musk and are not oxen. They belong to the goat and antelope family and are among the few survivors of the mass extinction of Earth's megafauna during the Pleistocene, or Ice Age.