Arctic fox - Alaska Natural Heritage Program - University of Alaska

Alaska Species Ranking System Summary Report - Arctic fox
Arctic fox
Vulpes lagopus
Conservation Status
Heritage
Agency
G Rank: G5 USFWS/NOAA:
S Rank: S5 SOA:
BLM:
USFS:
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
AA:
IUCN: Least Concern
Final Rank
Conservation category: IX. Blue
IX = low status and low biological vulnerability and action need
Category Range Score
Status: -20 to 20 -6
Biological: -50 to 50 -38
Action: -40 to 40 0
Higher numerical scores denote greater concern
Status
Population Trend (-10 to 10)
Trend unknown, but in most likely stable (Angerbjorn et al. 2004). Foxes are common, sometimes abundant, with populations
fluctuating considerably in relation to prey density (MacDonald and Cook 2009). Foxes are being eliminated from islands
they were introduced to for fur farming (Ebbert and Byrd 2002, Gibson and Byrd 2007, Williams et al. 2003).
Distribution Trend (-10 to 10)
From the mid 1700s through the 1930s fox were transplanted to many islands for fur farming (Paul 2009). Eradication
efforts are now eliminating arctic fox from some of the islands they were transplanted to (Ebbert and Byrd 2002, Gibson and
Bryd 2007, Williams et al. 2003).
Biological
- variables measure the trend in a taxon’s population status or distribution. Higher status scores denote taxa with
known declining trends. Status scores range from -20 (increasing) to 20 (decreasing).
Population Size (-10 to 10)
There are no published population estimates for the USA, but Angerbjorn et al. (2004) estimated around 10,000 arctic fox in
Alaska based on fur harvest compared with production figures from Russia.
Range Size (-10 to 10)
Occurs naturally along the arctic coast as far south as northwestern Bristol Bay, and on Diomede, Hall, King, St. Lawrence, St.
Matthew Pribilof, and Nunivak islands in the Bering Sea. Occasionally found considerable distance inland from the coast in
the Brooks Range. Foxes released on many of the Aleutian Islands, islands off the Alaska Peninsula, and along the Gulf Coast
to southeast Alaska for fur farming (MacDonald and Cook 2009). >800,000 square kilometers.
Population Concentration (-10 to 10)
Live in family units during breeding and pup rearing, mostly solitary during the winter (Stephenson 2008).
Reproductive Potential
Age of First Reproduction (-5 to 5)
Sexually mature at 9 to 10 months (Stephenson 2008).
Status Total:
- variables measure aspects of a taxon’s distribution, abundance and life history. Higher biological scores suggest
greater vulnerability to extirpation. Biological scores range from -50 (least vulnerable) to 50 (most vulnerable).
Score
-6
0
-6
Score
-4
-10
-10
-5
1

Alaska Species Ranking System Summary Report - Arctic fox
Number of Young (-5 to 5)
Average litter size 7 pups (Stephenson 2008).
1
Ecological Specialization
Dietary (-5 to 5)
Omnivorous. In the summer, feeds primarily on small mammals, including lemmings and tundra voles. If denning near the
seacoast, often depends on seabirds, such as auklets, puffins, and murres. Also feeds on berries, eggs, marine invertebrates,
fish, and scavenged remains of other animals (Audet et al. 2002, Stephenson 2008).
Habitat (-5 to 5)
Found in arctic tundra, along rocky beaches, and far out and widely dispersed on the frozen ice. Prefers to den in light,
sandy soil along riverbanks, on small hillocks, and occasionally in talus (MacDonald and Cook 2009).
Biological Total:
-5
-5
-38
Action
- variables measure current state of knowledge or extent of conservation efforts directed toward a given taxon. Higher
action scores denote greater information needs due of lack of knowledge or conservation action. Action scores range
from -40 (lower needs) to 40 (greater needs).
Management Needs (-10 to 10)
No direct management. Open to trapping and sport hunting (ADFG 2009, ADFG 2010c). Eradication efforts are eliminating
nonnative foxes from islands (Ebbert and Byrd 2002, Gibson and Byrd 2007, Williams et al. 2003).
Monitoring Needs (-10 to 10)
Not monitored, some information available from trapper questionnaires (ADFG 2007f).
Research Needs (-10 to 10)
Arctic fox populations rise and fall with cyclic changes of their prey. When food is scarce, fewer pups are successfully reared
to maturity and competition among pups for food accounts for some mortality of that age group (Stephenson 2008). Local
fluctuations in numbers are caused mainly by reproduction of local animals, juvenile survival, and immigration. Rabies is an
enzootic in most populations, and periodic epizootics have occurred in most mainland populations. Trapping and hunting are
important causes of mortality where humans co-occur (Audet et al. 2002).
Survey Needs (-10 to 10)
1341 records in Arctos (Arctos 2007). Information from trapper questionnaires (ADFG 2007f). Nonnative range on islands
known. Habitat associations, home ranges, and movement studied by Anthony (1997) in western Alaska. Studied in areas of
oil development on North Slope (Eberhardt et al. 1982).
Action Total:
Score
10
10
-10
-10
0
Supplemental Information
Harvest:
Seasonal Occurrence:
Taxonomic Significance:
Range Map
- variables do not receive numerical scores. Instead, they that are used to sort taxa to answer specific
biological or managerial questions.
Substantial, regulations
Year-round
% Global Range in Alaska:

Alaska Species Ranking System Summary Report - Arctic fox
References
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). 2007f. Furbearer management report of survey-inventory activities 1 July
2003 - 30 June 2006. P. Harper, editor. Juneau, Alaska.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). 2009. 2009-2010 Alaska Trapping Regulations. Alaska Department of
Fish and Game, Anchorage, AK.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). 2010c. 2010-2011 Alaska hunting regulations. Alaska Department of Fish
and Game. Juneau, Alaska.
Angerbjorn, A., P. Hersteinsson, and M. Tannerfeldt. 2004. Chapter 5: Europe and North and Central Asia (palearctic).
Pp.117-151 In: C. Sillero-Zubiri, M. Hoffmann, and D. W. Macdonald (eds.) Canids: Foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs
status survey and conse
Anthony, R. M. 1997. Home ranges and movements of arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) in western Alaska. Arctic 50: 147-157.
ARCTOS, University of Alaska Museum of the North. 2007. ARCTOS database: Fish, amphibian, mammal, bird and
reptile collections. University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. Available online at
http://arctos.database.museum/SpecimenSearch.cfm. Accessed 14Feb2007.
Audet, A. M., C. B. Robbins, and S. Lariviere. 2002. Alopex lagopus. Mammalian Species 713: 1-10.
Ebbert, S. M. and G. V. Byrd. 2002. Management of island invasive species to restore natural biological diversity on
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Pages 102-109 in Viech, C.R. and M.N. Clout (eds.) Turning the tide: The
eradication of Invas
Eberhardt, L. E., W. C. Hanson, J. L. Bengtson, R. A. Garrott, and E. E. Hanson. 1982. Arctic fox home range
characteristics in an oil-development area. The Journal of Wildlife Management 46: 183-190.
Gibson, D. D. and G. V. Byrd. 2007. Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge, MA
and AOU, Washington D. C.
MacDonald, S. O. and J. A. Cook. 2009. Recent Mammals of Alaska. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, AK.
NatureServe. 2007b. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 6.2. NatureServe,
Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer.
Paul, T. W. 2009. Game transplants in Alaska. Technical Bulletin No. 4, second edition. Alaska Department of Fish and
Game. Juneau, Alaska. 150 pp.
3

Alaska Species Ranking System Summary Report - Arctic fox
Stephenson, B. 2008. Arctic Fox. Alaska Wildlife Notebook Series. Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Williams, J. C., G. V. Byrd, and N. B. Konyukhov. 2003. Whiskered auklets Aethia pygmaea, foxes, humans, and how
to right a wrong. Marine Ornithology 31: 175-180.
Youngman, P. M. 1993. The Pleistocene small carnivores of eastern Beringia. Canadian Field-Naturalist 107: 139-163.
Version date: 1/3/2013
Report authors: K. Walton, T. Gotthardt, and T. Fields
Alaska Natural Heritage Program
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, AK 99501
For details on the development of the ASRS and criteria, please see: Gotthardt, T. A., K. M. Walton, and T. L. Fields. 2012.
Setting Conservation Priorities for Alaska's Wildlife Action Plan. Alaska Natural Heritage Program, University of Alaska
Anchorage, AK.
4