The Arctic Fox

by: Nada Ashraf 

My animal is the arctic fox.

What is the animals habitat?

In the summer, the arctic fox lives in the tundra at the edge of the forest. In winter, you can find them on ice floes, where they camouflage into it because of their white fur. Its usual den is a burrow in a hillside that has more than one entrance.

What country/continent is the animal located?

The arctic fox has a circumpolar range, meaning they can be found throughout the entire arctic. They live in places such as the outer edges of Greenland, Russia, Canada, Alaska, Iceland and other places, too.

What are some interesting facts about this animal?

The arctic foxes are the only mammals that are native to Iceland.

- In winter, their fur coats become white, therefore, helping them camouflage into the white ice and snow, helping them hide from the predator. The original colour of its fur is grey brownish.

- The arctic fox can survive up to fifty degrees Celsius, with its fur keeping it warm.

- The arctic fox has an excellent sense of hearing and smelling, which is used for detecting the prey. They can detect and catch the prey which is located under the snow.

- They can survive three to six years in the wild.

The main predators besides (humans)are the red fox and polar bears. And the scientific name is Alopex Lagopus

What has caused this animal become endangered?

One thing that is making the population of arctic foxes endangered is humans. Their fur is very expensive, being very warm and rare. Humans kill them just for their fur. Another reason is foxes are very curious, and when humans come looking for foxes or other animals the fox doesn’t know what's going on and the hunter sees it and kills it. Or a farm and the farmer sees and decides to eat it. Another thing is that the food chain is getting messed up. Their prey, which includes lemmings, hares, eggs, birds, and other rodents, is running out. They don’t get enough food to survive. People are also hunting them for fame, fortune, and warmth. That is the problem, people these days don’t care about the real problems. Another reason is that the habitat is melting! If it melts, it'll have nowhere to go, and probably die of starvation or get shot. This is so sad!!

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What can people do to help save this animal?

We can raise awareness to this dilemma and write a letter to the president, Barack Obama or something like that. We could also all sign a petition against killing them just to get jackets. We also can adopt one. It might sound weird, but maybe it isn't, like if its for nature, then you probably should. If you are allowed to. We can tell everyone about it and do something like petitions, videos, write to the president and much, much more things like that!