Experts thrilled as iconic species thrives thanks to innovative project: 'Would surely have become extinct'

While the Arctic fox has been listed as "least concern" on the IUCN Red List since 2014, the animal has been designated as an endangered species in mainland Norway for years. But there is increasing hope that the species now has a much brighter future.

Thanks to fierce competition for food and widespread hunting for their valuable fur, Arctic foxes saw their population drastically decrease in Norway for decades. By the 1990s, the prospects for the species looked extremely grim.

Since then, Arctic foxes have been the focus of several conservation programs that have aimed to reestablish the animal's presence in Norway. One of those programs is the Arctic Fox Captive Breeding Programme established by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, or NINA.

As part of the program, captive-reared offspring are strategically released in various mountain areas across Norway each year. Since the first release in 2006, NINA has reintroduced 464 Arctic foxes into the wild.

In March 2024, The Guardian detailed the work being done at an Arctic fox captive breeding station outside of Oppdal, Norway. At the facility, there are eight large enclosures, each described as "approximately half the size of a football field" by NINA.

Inside each enclosure, there are at least two artificial dens, where NINA staff allow the Arctic foxes to live with minimal human contact. Once captive-reared offspring reach an age of eight months, they are then trapped and transported to release sites at the start of each year.

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According to Bjørn Rangbru, a senior adviser on threatened species with the Norwegian Environment Agency, the efforts of NINA have proved to be invaluable. "Without these conservation measures, the Arctic fox would surely have become extinct in Norway," Rangbru said.

As stated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Arctic foxes play a pivotal role in regional food chains. Perhaps their biggest contribution as a predator is controlling the lemming population.

In a 2016 study, a team of researchers found that Arctic foxes also contribute to increased soil nutrients being distributed across their habitat due to their propensity to dig.

Thanks to dedicated conservation efforts since 2006, the Arctic fox appears to be well on its way to flourishing once again in Norway.