According to the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten, the mountain fox is an endangered species in Sweden, Norway and Finland.

The situation is particularly serious in the northernmost part of the species' distribution area because the mountain foxes are critically few and the populations are divided.

A collaboration is underway to try to overcome the situation and now it is announced that Norway has decided to release twelve mountain fox puppies in the border areas to northern Finland and Sweden.

- Occasional mountain foxes have been observed in the area in recent years, but despite several known dens, no puppies have been born since 1990. Now we are trying to establish the mountain fox in the area again, says Nina E. Eide, researcher at NINA (Norwegian Institute for Natural History), in a press release.

Follows developments in the field and with cameras

The partner countries have built feeding stations in the program area to help the mountain foxes through difficult years when there is a shortage of prey.

- The efforts that take place in different subpopulations on the North Calotte have a positive impact on each other.

The greater the genetic exchange that takes place between the subpopulations, the greater the species' chances of survival in the long run, says Nina E. Eide.

To follow the development, game cameras have been set up and mounted at the feeding stations and dens.

The County Administrative Board of Norrbotten will also make field observations.

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See when mountain foxes are released in Norrbotten last year.

Photo: The County Administrative Board of Västerbotten