An Arctic Fox has made the epic journey from Norway all the way to Canada. The young female fox, who is just shy of her first birthday, covered an unbelievable distance of more than 2,700 miles in just four months.
The fox departed from Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard Archipelago of Norway, and arrived in Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada.
The fox was tracked by a tracking collar placed on it by researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Published this morning: "Arctic fox dispersal from Svalbard to Canada: one female’s long run across sea ice" https://t.co/vUvu4NbPEj This is the first satellite tracking of natal dispersal by an Arctic fox between continents. Authors: Eva Fuglei and Arnaud Tarroux pic.twitter.com/gowSov0OBA
— Polar Research (@PolarResearch) June 25, 2019
The Svalbard fox crossed extensive stretches of sea and ice glacier during her journey. The fox’s average traveling speed varied greatly throughout her trip, hitting a mean of about 28 miles per day. Her fastest recorded movement rate was about 96 miles per day while crossing the ice sheet in northwestern Greenland. This indicates that she was using sea ice mostly to help her travel, rather than as a place to forage for food.