Arctic fox<br />
Alopex lagopus<br />
NORWAY / SVALBARD<br />
The Arctic fox comes in two colour schemes<br />
– light grey and bluish-black. It is an opportunist<br />
that eats almost anything, but when it has a<br />
choice, it specialises in small rodents and birds.<br />
It is a common animal on Greenland, Iceland,<br />
Svalbard and in the Russian Arctic.<br />
In Finland and Scandinavia, it was driven close<br />
to extinction by being hunted and trapped for its<br />
valuable fur. Despite over 75 years of protection,<br />
the mainland Scandinavian population still<br />
remains on the brink of extinction, with only<br />
some 200 adult individuals left in the wild. Supplementary<br />
feeding programmes during winter, and<br />
reintroductions from captive breeding facilities<br />
finally seem to be having some real success. <br />
In 2011 no less than 700 pups were born in the wild.<br />
Nature conservation works!<br />
This is one of the species that Rewilding Europe wants considers <br />
to help reintroduce and restock in the huge Greater Laponia region in Sweden and Norway.<br />
<br />
Photo: Mireille de la Lez / Wild Wonders of Europe