Arctic fox

Where do the polar foxes live?

Help Save the Arctict Foxes!

You can help the Foxes by helping prevent Global Warming and the Produce of fur clothing.
You can also adopt an Arctic fox by either clicking the picture to the right------------->
or CLICK HERE

What happened to the foxes?

This beautiful animal, killed and used for this:

More info

Arctic fox, also called White Fox, or Polar Fox,  (species Alopex lagopus), northern fox of the family Canidae, found throughout the Arctic, usually on tundra or mountains near the sea. In adaptation to the climate, it has short, rounded ears, a short muzzle, and fur-covered soles. Its length is about 50–60 cm (20–24 inches), exclusive of the 30-centimetre tail; and its weight is about 3–8 kg (6.6–17 pounds). Coloration depends on whether the animal is of the “white” or the “blue” colour phase. Individuals of the white phase are grayish brown in summer and white in winter (see photograph), while those of the blue phase (blue foxes of the fur trade) are grayish in summer and gray-blue in winter.
The Arctic fox is a burrow dweller and may be active at any time of day. It feeds on whatever animal or vegetable material is available and often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of their kills. It usually breeds once yearly, a litter of up to 14 dark-furred pups being born between April and June; gestation is about 52 days.

How can you help save the arctic fox?

You can donate money to an endangered animal foundation or try to stop global warming so they can stay in their natural habitat. You can also boycott the selling of amimal fur because they are being hunted. Save them today. 

Polar foxes disapearing in Scandanavia

From 1998 to 2008, a total of 241 Arctic fox litters were registered in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Of these, 111 were in Norway and 130 in Sweden. Only one litter was registered in Finland.

In 2009, no litters were registered in Norway, due to the collapse of populations of lemmings and other small rodents in 2008/2009. In Sweden only two litters were registered, and in both cases pup mortality was very high. No litters have been registered in Finland since the late 1990s. 

The Arctic fox is critically endangered: this species and the wolf are Norway’s most seriously threatened mammals. Despite many years of complete protection, the Arctic fox population in Fennoscandia has not recovered. On the contrary, the last 20 years have seen a further decline in numbers.

Why are the Polar Foxes Endangered?

Arctic foxes are endangered because people kill them for their fur. There isn't a lot of food for them either.

Nutrition

The Arctic fox, while classified in the order Carnivora, is more accurately an omnivore. Its diet consists primarily of rodents, but it will also eat ground-nesting birds and their eggs as well as berries, fish, invertebrates, worms, edible flotsam, crustaceans trapped in tide pools, marine mammals and carrion (McGonigal, 2001). It will take any available animal food, whether it is alive or dead. The primary prey of the Arctic fox during the summer months are the lemming, Arctic ground squirrels, and hares, although the fox is a key predator of ringed seal pups during the winter (Nowak, 1999). A family of foxes can consume dozens of lemmings in a single day. The Arctic fox caches food during periods of surplus in the event that prey later becomes scarce. During the winter, carrion such as dead beluga whales is the main food source. The Arctic fox will often trail polar bears on the sea ice and wolves on land to eat of the remains of seal kills (Sale, 2006). The fox's coat allows it to blend in with its surroundings, making it easier for it to sneak up and pounce on its prey. The fox typically does its foraging alone or in pairs. The Arctic fox has a complete digestive system that allows it to effectively digest meat. It also has a complete circulatory system that allows it to transport nutrients. Like most mammals, it stores its food as fat and simple sugars.

Some facts about the arctic fox

The Arctic fox is able to walk on top of snow and listen for the movement of prey beneath it.

The Arctic fox is the best-traveled of any terrestrial mammal with the exception of Homo sapiens (Nowak, 1999).

Captive breeding of the fox has revealed that the blue morph, while uncommon in the wild (constituting less than 5 percent of some populations), is actually the dominant form (Sale, 2006).

Overtrapping drove the fox nearly to extinction in many areas, yet today the fox's status is "not threatened."

The winter coat develops in October and is shed in April.

Although the white morph fox is typically a very pure white during the winter, in areas with a slightly warmer climate they may remain relatively dark throughout the whole year, more closely resembling the color of their summer coat (Nowak, 1999).

The Arctic fox's vocalizations include barks, screams, and hisses, yet are seldom heard except during breeding season, during territorial disputes, and to warn their young.