Arctic Fox - Arctic Wildlife Series

Description

The Arctic Fox is a small fox found commonly in the arctic regions of the world. Measuring a little less than three feet in length, this fox is mottled brown in the summer and pure white in the winter. Adult foxes weigh between six and twenty pounds, though most are closer to six. Its thick fur coat helps insulate it from the freezing temperatures and windswept snow.

Diet

The Arctic Fox is the ultimate survivor. It will eat just about anything including insects, small mammals, birds, ducks, geese, eggs, and even an occasional Snowy Owl. Lemmings, small mouse-like mammals are its most common prey. In fact, when populations of Lemmings crash every three or four years, so do populations of foxes. Arctic Foxes will eat berries and seaweed as well. When food is scarce, Arctic Foxes become scavengers. The Arctic Fox is sometimes preyed upon by Polar Bears.

Reproduction

Arctic Fox Vixens (female foxes) can give birth to as many as 25 kits (baby foxes) in the springtime (the largest of any carnivore). Most litters, however, contain between five and eight kits. Both male and female foxes help take care of the young.

Status

While the Arctic Fox is common throughout much of the Arctic region, it is exceedingly rare in the Scandinavian nations of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, where populations never recovered from severe overhunting. In addition, recent movements of the Red Fox into Arctic Fox territory (probably as a result of global warming) threatens the Arctic Fox population as well.