The arctic fox is very small and compact which helps conserve heat in the cold, sparse, arctic tundra regions that it lives in. The arctic fox is now extinct in Scotland but was found here up to the last Ice Age. Nowadays, it lives throughout the arctic polar region, with Scandinavian animals migrating south to the Baltic coast for the winter.

Its small ears and even the soles of its feet are covered in thick hair which acts as insulation. With a short, grey and white coat in summer time and long, pure white in winter, it is almost invisible to prey against the changing colours of the arctic tundra landscape.In summertime, the arctic fox is active during the day and night in the 24 hour daylight of the arctic. In winter, they will even forage on to marine pack-ice for food. They eat mainly small rodents, particularly lemmings, birds’ eggs and the young of ground-nesting birds.

During the breeding season a large amount of prey species may be killed and buried in the ground on the permafrost. This provides the fox with a deep-frozen food supply for the long, dark winter months. Arctic foxes also scavenge on the kills of other large carnivores, such as the wolf and polar bear.They are a social species, particularly in winter, when they live in small family based groups. The female gives birth between April and June to a litter of 4 – 11 cubs. She will use a rock fissure or will dig extensive shallow tunnel systems to give birth in. If prey species are very abundant in that year, she can produce a second litter.