Lethal List #4 - Arctic Fox

The fourth creature in our series on endangered species has a happier story. The Arctic fox is actually not currently an endangered species. It is currently listed as Least Concern, with a stable population of several hundred thousand individuals.

Why should a lethal list posting focus on a species that is not endangered? The answer is two-fold.

First, there are certain populations that are nearly extinct despite the good standing of the species as a whole. This connects to the second reason - the Arctic fox is a species intimately connected with the Arctic and therefore heavily impacted by climate change.

The Arctic fox's habitat is circumpolar. This means that its habitat goes around the entire circumference of the globe. In this case, it is at the narrowest point of the Earth in the Arctic region.

This small mammal lives year-round in the northern boreal forests and Arctic tundras of all parts of the world from Alaska and Canada, to Russia, Greenland and Iceland.

The scientific name of the Arctic fox is Vulpes lagopus. The Vulpes genus contains all of the 12 fox species, and is one genus in the Canidae family. Canidae is distinguished as the family of 'dog-like' carnivores, which includes dogs, foxes and wolves.

While currently stable, the arctic fox population faces the same problems as other Arctic species. With rising global temperatures, the icy conditions that this mammal relies on are growing harder to come by. Without a change to greenhouse gas emissions, it is certain that in the future the Arctic fox will join the endangered species list.

#animal #arcticfox