A female Arctic fox traveled nearly 2,200 miles in 76 days — from Norway to Canada by foot — and astounded Norwegian scientists in the process.
The fox was outfitted with a satellite transmitter by scientists at the Norweigan Polar Institute, where scientists wanted to survey just how far Arctic foxes travel from their birthplace.
They found their answer: In less than three months, she went from Spitsbergen, an island in northern Norway, and reached Ellesmere Island in the northeast part of Canada.
The fox moved at a rate of 29 miles a day. At her fastest, she traveled nearly 100 miles in a single day while crossing Greenland. It set a record for the fastest movement rate ever documented in an Arctic fox.
“This is among the longest dispersal events ever recorded for an Arctic fox, crossing extensive stretches of sea ice and glaciers,” wrote Norwegian scientists Eva Fuglei and Arnaud Tarroux in a report published June 24.
The trek was among the longest recorded by scientists, but it also raises questions of the effects that climate change have on sea ice and animals that navigate the Arctic.
The Arctic currently faces “its most unprecedented transition in human history,” said Emily Osborne of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in December.
The fox’s current whereabouts are unknown. The transmitter stopped working in February, and her fate is unclear.
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