Two coats a year
It is white in winter and brown-grey in summer, so it matches the ground all year.
Arctic tundra
Arctic fox
Vulpes lagopus
A small, round fox with short ears and a very thick coat: white in winter, grey-brown in summer.
- Size
- Body about 55cm, plus a bushy tail
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Tundra and sea ice across the Arctic
Trots after you with its brush out behind. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Arctic fox
Good to know
Six things about the arctic fox
The warmest fur
Its fur keeps it comfortable down to about minus 50 degrees. It only starts to shiver below that.
A blanket of its own
It curls up and wraps its bushy tail over its nose and feet to sleep.
Following the bear
In winter, arctic foxes follow polar bears across the ice and eat what they leave.
A dive into snow
It listens for lemmings moving under the snow, then leaps up and dives in head first.
Furry soles
The soles of its feet are covered in fur, like a hare's. Its Latin name means hare-footed fox.
The real thing
Photos of the arctic fox
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Arctic foxes are curious and will come close to camps. In Iceland and Svalbard, look near seabird cliffs in summer.
How to help
As the Arctic warms, bigger red foxes move north and push them out. Supporting action on climate change helps the arctic fox.
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