The Large Animal Research Station is situated on 134 acres of land just north of the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The land was the original homestead of the Yankovich family, who deeded the land to the University in 1963. In 1964, John Teal began his muskox domestication project on the property with a herd of 33 animals captured from Nunivak Island. In 1974 this original herd was moved to Unalakleet and later to Palmer where the Musk Ox Farm was established under the direction of the Musk Ox Development Corporation. In 1979, the Large Animal Research Station was founded in its current capacity through a major grant from the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs. The goal of the station was and is to establish a colony of muskoxen that are available for nutritional, physiological, and behavioral research.

The Station also serves in an educational and outreach capacity, providing the opportunity to introduce students of all ages to wildlife and wildlife research. Thousands of people from around the world visit LARS each year during the summer tourism program.