🦬 Musk ox vs Sheep 🐑
The musk ox weighs about twice as much as the sheep.
Getting the animals ready…
Sheep: no checked size yet, so it isn't drawn.
| Row | 🦬 Musk ox | 🐑 Sheep |
|---|---|---|
| Size We don't have a checked size for the sheep yet. | 8.2 ft2.5 m1 | no checked number yet |
| Top speed Neither has a checked number yet. | no checked number yet | no checked number yet |
| Weight The musk ox weighs about twice as much as the sheep. | 441 to 882 lb200 to 400 kg1 | 90 to 450 lb41 to 204 kg2 |
| Lives We don't have a checked number for the musk ox yet. | no checked number yet | 6 to 11 years6 to 11 years2 |
| Eats Both eat plants. | grasses, sedges, willow twigs and flowering plants | grass, clover and hay |
| Lives in They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. | the Arctic tundra of Greenland, northern Canada and Alaska | farms and hillsides all over the world |
Which one? Musk ox or sheep
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the musk ox or the sheep yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
7 things to know about Musk ox vs Sheep
- The musk ox: A shaggy Arctic animal with hair that nearly reaches the ground.
- The sheep: A woolly farm animal whose thick coat is made into warm clothes.
- They are the same kind of animal: both are mammals.
- The musk ox weighs about twice as much as the sheep. That is 1 for the musk ox and 2 for the sheep.
- Both eat plants. The musk ox eats grasses, sedges, willow twigs and flowering plants; the sheep eats grass, clover and hay.
- The musk ox lives in the Arctic tundra of Greenland, northern Canada and Alaska. The sheep lives in farms and hillsides all over the world. They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet.
- The musk ox: doing fine (Least Concern on the IUCN Red List). 3
Wow facts
🦬 Musk ox
- The soft wool under its hair is called qiviut.
- A herd bunches into a tight group with the calves in the middle.
- It is more closely related to sheep and goats than to cattle.
🐑 Sheep
- Sheep can remember the faces of other sheep and of people.
- A sheep's wool keeps growing until it gets a haircut.
- A sheep can see almost all the way around without turning.
Questions kids ask about Musk ox and Sheep
Which is heavier, musk ox or sheep?
The musk ox weighs about twice as much as the sheep. That is 1 for the musk ox and 2 for the sheep.
What do musk ox and sheep eat?
Both eat plants. The musk ox eats grasses, sedges, willow twigs and flowering plants; the sheep eats grass, clover and hay.
Where do musk ox and sheep live?
The musk ox lives in the Arctic tundra of Greenland, northern Canada and Alaska. The sheep lives in farms and hillsides all over the world. They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet.
Who would win, musk ox or sheep?
We never show fights, because a fight is not a fair way to compare animals. They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. What we can compare is how big, how heavy, how fast, how long they live and what they eat, as above.
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/musk-ox-vs-sheep
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Cape Krusenstern, checked 30 October 2026.
- NC State Extension, sheep facts, checked 6 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.