Muskox calf born at Helsinki zoo boosts European conservation efforts

A muskox calf born last month at Helsinki’s Korkeasaari Zoo is providing a vital genetic contribution to the species’ European conservation program, zoo officials announced Wednesday.

The two-week-old calf, known as a kili in Finnish, now moves independently but remains close to its five-year-old mother, who nurses it several times a day. The young muskox has also begun sampling twigs and hay alongside its dam, according to the zoo.

The birth holds particular significance for the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), as the calf’s sire carried rare genes within the captive population. The now-deceased male, originally from Moscow Zoo, has sired four offspring at Korkeasaari.

Once hunted to near-extinction a century ago, muskoxen—closely related to goats and sheep—are now classified as a species of least concern, though climate change poses a growing threat to their Arctic habitats. The herd at Korkeasaari remains visible to visitors as part of daily rotations in the enclosure.