The Arctic fox has born far fewer puppies this year than last year. The reason is few rodents in the mountains, writes newspaper Adresseavisen.
This year there has only been ten cubs with a minimum of 30 puppies, according to preliminary figures from the national monitoring program for foxes. In 2015, which was a record year for the Arctic fox, the number was 40 cubs with 204 puppies.
– This year’s figures may be adjusted during the summer, but we expect no major changes. All indications are that there will be fewer fox cubs this year than last year, says Senior Øystein Flagstad in Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA). He is part of the monitoring program, which is run by NINA and the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate (SNO).
Seven of this year’s ten cubs are registered in Dovrefjell.
The Arctic fox is listed as critically endangered on the Norwegian Red List, which is a list of species that may be at risk of disappearing from Norway.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
