In Svalbard arctic foxes occur almost everywhere on the archipelago from the highest mountain ridges to the coasts and even on the drift ice. Genetic studies show that there is considerable contact between populations some foxes move over vast distances, sometimes using sea ice to move between arctic continents and islands. They are red Listed as highly endangered in Fennoscandia, where the species is the subject of intense conservation efforts. Arctic foxes are abundant throughout their distribution, with the exception of Fennoscandia, Medny Island (in the Komandor Islands of Russia) and the Pribilof Islands in Alaska, where they have undergone serious declines. It reproduces in mountain tundra habitats in Fennoscandia, on the arctic tundra of Eurasia and North America, Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard and other barren arctic islands outside the coast of Siberia, Canada and the Bering Strait. The arctic fox has a circumpolar distribution and is found in a wide variety of tundra habitats. The blue morph remains dark charcoal coloured all year round, but becomes somewhat lighter in winter.īetween 84–97% of the population in Svalbard are of the white colour morph, and within the circumpolar distribution area 97–99% are white. The white morph is uniformly white in winter, except for some few black hairs on the tip of the tail, and brown-grey on the back/thighs and yellowish-white on the belly and the sides in summer. The Arctic fox appears in two distinct colour morphs, white and blue. In September the winter fur starts growing, and by November-December the winter coat is complete. The shedding of the winter fur starts in May and the short summer fur is in place in July. The winter fur is thick with dense under-fur and long guard hairs. It is about 60 cm long and has a tail that is approximately 30 cm long in addition. The Arctic fox has a short snout, short rounded ears and a body size smaller than its close relative the red fox (that does not exist in Svalbard).
International cooperation in the Arctic.International cooperation in Antarctica.