Daniel T'seleie
Northern News Services

Whitehorse, Yukon (May 30/05) - Chance, the orphaned baby muskox, arrived safely in Whitehorse at 10 p.m. local time two Fridays ago.

"I just want to feed him and take care of him and send him to a good home," said Joann Laserich, a resident of Cambridge Bay who, along with her co-workers, took care of Chance before he departed Nunavut.

With 750 acres of natural habitat to roam, Chance does have a good home along with the 18 other muskox at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.

"They're actually very happy here," said Carolyn Thorne, executive director of the preserve.

Kept in quarantine until today, Chance has been sleeping just outside the door of the resident veterinarian on the preserve. A stark contrast to his first human contact, when he was found half-dead on the ice road outside Cambridge Bay more than two weeks ago.

Younger than initially thought, Chance was most likely only a day or two old when he was first found, said Thorne. This makes him the youngest muskox on the preserve, and still quite small at around 20 pounds.

"Mostly all hair," Thorne said.

Despite his age, he will get some preferential treatment. The other three baby male muskox will never be introduced to the 14 members of the adult herd. Chance will. His Nunavut blood is ideal for expanding the gene pool.

"We're actually quite excited about that," Thorne said.

Chance will join the adults when he is about five or six months old. He will have to find his place in the "pecking order," said Thorne. "They tend to fight over the females."

Mating season begins in October and lasts a couple of months. Even though there are only two adult males at this point, "It becomes very dangerous," she said.

Until then he can play like a child with the other babies, and hold on to the small teddy bear sent along with him as a memento of Nunavut.

"That's his little buddy," Thorne said.

The fenced-in preserve is open to the public, who view the animals safely from behind the windows of vehicles. It is shared with other Northern animals such as caribou.