While other animals slow down and spend the winter in a shelter, polar (or arctic) foxes do not hibernate.

The appearance of a thicker coat and slower metabolism in very cold weather allows them to use their energy efficiently and remain active year-round, while intricate dens provide shelter in cold conditions. become particularly hard.


Devoted Parents

The young are born in these underground dens in spring and early summer;

they therefore have time to grow and learn to survive in this hostile environment before facing the harshest months.

Their parents, who stay around, devote themselves fully to their young in order to give them the best chance of reaching adulthood.

Despite their best efforts, many of them die of starvation, cold or fall victim to larger predators before the end of their first winter.

For survivors, subsequent winters are less risky.


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Feeding in the Polar Regions

Since it is difficult to find food in such a desolate environment, arctic foxes travel long distances, up to 4500 km during the whole winter.

Very fine hearing and a good sense of smell allow them to track mammals or fish if they live near water.

The lemming is their main source of food.

Foxes dive into the snow to catch small rodents.

A couple with cubs must catch several dozen each day to ensure the family's survival.

Arctic fox populations fluctuate with lemming populations.

In lemming-poor years, foxes – especially younger ones – cannot build up the fat layer they need to survive the winter.

In the spring, hunting becomes a little easier for the foxes, with the appearance of baby seals and the eggs of the snow geese, which the brave enough foxes do not hesitate to attack.


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