Fantastically fast Mr Fox! Arctic fox makes epic 2,000-mile trek from Norway to Canada in just 76 days as it searches for food on the sea ice
- The fox averaged 29 miles a day as it trekked from Svalbard to Ellesmere Island
- At its fastest, the animal travelled 96 miles on one day across Greenland ice
- Its progress was followed by Norwegian polar researchers with a satellite tracker
An Arctic fox has walked 2,179 miles across the sea ice from Norway to Canada – leaving scientists ‘thunderstruck’.
The animal made the incredible journey in just 76 days – averaging 29 miles a day – making it the ‘fastest movement rate ever recorded for this species’, according to researchers.
The fox’s progress was followed by the Norwegian Polar Institute, which fitted the female with a satellite tracker.
Eva Fuglei of the polar institute told Norwegian broadcaster NRK: ‘We couldn’t believe our eyes at first.
This Arctic fox, pictured being handled by polar researchers, walked 2,179 miles across the sea ice from Norway to Canada – leaving scientists ‘thunderstruck’
‘We thought perhaps it was dead, or had been carried there on a boat, but there were no boats in the area. We were quite thunderstruck.’
The animal, known as a coastal or blue fox, had a tracking device put in when she was released in 2017.
She began her epic journey on March 26 last year, when she left Svalbard in Norway.
Within just three weeks she was in Greenland, arriving there on April 16, before continuing her journey and reached Canada’s Ellesmere Island on June 10.
At her fastest, the fox moved 96 miles on one day while she was moving across the ice sheet in northern Greenland.
The animal also took two breaks during her journey, which researchers attributed to the ‘inhospitable’ climate and snowstorms.
A map published by Norwegian polar researchers shows the fox’s progress across the Arctic ice from Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway, to Ellesmere Island in Canada
The distance is around 1,100 miles as the crow flies, but the fox took a more meandering route.
Researchers said she had stayed in a ‘limited area’ around Ellesmere Island after arriving there last June.
However, they have since lost track of the animal because the satellite transmitter has stopped working.
Researchers at the polar institute also emphasised how the ice sheet route was under threat from global warming.
‘This is another example of how important sea ice is to wildlife in the Arctic,’ said Norway’s environment minister, Ola Elvestuen.
‘The warming in the north is frighteningly fast. We must cut emissions quickly to prevent the sea ice from disappearing all summer.
‘When the sea ice decreases as quickly as it does around Svalbard, we must protect the species and ecosystems extra well against other environmental impacts.’
The findings are published in the journal Polar Research.