From the Norwegian Arctic Fox recovery project we got the news that the first litter of the spring was born on the 3rd of May. It is surprisingly early but another 7 females are still pregnant.

The breeding station in Oppdal, Trondheim began in 2005 with 8 pairs of Arctic foxes. There are fenced areas for each pair and semi-closed fences with feeding stations for those released.

...
More

Filmmaker Tobias Mennle and author Frank Drygala managed to film some spectacular fox behaviour during their 4 week stay in the westfjords. The international TV project commissioned by NDR Natural History unit/Germany is about icelands nature and the main character will be - the arctic fox!

We greatfully accepted some donated photos from Tobias for our photo gallery - great to have these rare beautiful photos of winter furred animals of the blue colour morph. Funny to see how big and fluffy the foxes look during the winter compare to the slim and tall summer versions that we know from the area. Vielen danke Tobias !

Now the mating season is almost over and arctic fox pairs have been establishing their territories, barking at each other in the calm and quiet fjords and walleys. Some lone runners have not found a mate and wander around in case they find someone of the opposite sex and a free space. Those "runners" are probably traveling quite long distances, it would be great to have some of them radio-collared and follow up their tracks.
Eiders perform their courtship behaviour and "uhua" songs at the shoreline, moving a bit further out when an arctic fox passes by. Seals are curiously checking on those arctic foxes walking by and enjoying the early morning walk along the coastline.
Migrating birds are arriving, even though the Westfjords are still covered with snow, ptarmigans are sneaking around in the hills, still wearing their white winter uniform. Seabirds have moved nearer to bird cliffs but still remain at sea.
Looks like the nature is carefully waking up from the white cold winter and the struggle of raising their offspring in the short summer is the main project of the coming months.

 

Our first product on the way, t-shirts with road sign: "Arctic Fox on the road" 

The t-shirt is black and will be in adult and kid sizes and in common and design style. We will also produce stickers for the car, with this road sign. The label logo is designed by the Arctic Fox Center staff members. 

The t-shirts ARE NOW available at the online ArcticFoxShop ! 

We wish to thank Olger Kooring for his beautiful photos donated to the Arctic Fox Center - these were taken in Hornstrandir last summer (2008).
His photos are also on the web page of the Lighthouse accommodation - see here 

The Arctic Fox Centre has announced a competition of handcraft that is related to the arctic fox - we need products to sell online at the webshop and at the exhibition center when it will open next year.

All material is allowed and only the imagination is limiting ...

If you have ideas of clothes, art, textile, ... just go for it

- informations and questions can be send through webform here on the page -
 
 

The Arctic Fox Center is preparing a session of winter photographing. We have set out a bait in a remote localization with a beautiful scenario. Let´s hope we get some well furred foxes to enter the bait and pose for photographers. If this will work, we will get more photos for the web page and other projects.
So far we have only seen tracks in the snow but that makes us pretty optimistic - we´ve even had some barkings around the bait.
If we manage to keep the area protected from hunting, this could be a possible location for future project, e.g. remote camera, filming, etc...

An International conference on Arctic Fox Biology was held in Jämtland in Sweden 16th to 18th February 2009. The participants were scientists that work on Arctic Fox Research programs in various regions of the northern world. The planning and orgainzation was in the hands of Nina Eide at NINA (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research), Anders Ångerbjörn and Karin Norén from The University of Stockholm and SEFALO (The Swedish-Finnish-Norwegian Arctic Fox Project). There were lectures on various fields of biology and physiology from researches as far apart as Wrangel island, Bylot islands, Svalbard, Alutian islands, Mednyi islands, Scandinavia, Iceland, Finland, Greenland, Alaska, Canada.......
More

Fox tour next summer
The travel agency F-stop tours has planned a tour next summer, including a route to the arctic foxes of Hornstrandir with a guidance from The Arctic Fox Center.
The tour will take place in early July and takes in whole 4 days - whereas the participants will stay in The Factor House in Isafjordur and in the Lighthouse of the remote Natural Reserve Hornstrandir.
We recommend this tour to anyone loving nature and wildlife !

From the F-stop tours web page:
Starting July 1st, our tour takes us by a 40-minute domestic Air Iceland flight from Reykjavík, north to the town of Ísafjörður. With 4,000 residents, it is the largest community in the West Fjords . We have time to roam the town's historical section, enjoy the numerous classic buildings and watch the bustling harbour activities. Our first night's stay is in a cozy local guesthouse and the historic Faktors House. The next morning, we leave by boat for the Hornbjarg area, one of Iceland's most prolific bird cliffs. After the 2-2.5 hr. trip, we arrive just below the Arctic Circle, where foxes and birds have co-existed long before man appeared.

Further information on the page http://www.f-stoptours.com/foxtour09stuff/foxtour2.html

The Arctic Fox Center participated in a pilot study last summer (2008), regarding the effects of tourists on wildlife behaviour.

This study was a part of a larger project, named Ecotourism: Effects on wildlife behaviour.
The project's main objective was to find out if increasing ecotourism in Iceland is effecting wildlife behaviour in natural surroundings. other participants in this project were

1. The Icelandic Seal Center, looking at seals in Illugastaðir, N-Iceland
   
2. The Húsavík Research Center, which looked at whales in Skjálfandi Bay, NE-Iceland
   

Our aim was to monitore the arctic foxes in Hornstrandir Natural Reserve.
The project was supported by The Student Innovation Fund and it was Borgný Katrínardóttir, a biology student from The University of Iceland, that worked with us on the fox study.
The Westfjord Research Center of The University of Iceland contributed largely to the project, providing the student and facilities.