The Arctic fox is an animal that now appears to be extinct in Finland, and is down to

extremely low levels in its remaining home in Scandinavia.The arctic fox is classified as
critically endangered in Finland, Norway and Sweden, and within the European Union.

The arctic fox, a smaller cousin of the red fox, was one of the first mammals to colonise
Sweden and Finland at the end of the Ice Age. As the ice retreated it remained in the
mountain tundra areas. High hunting pressure led to a drastic population decline in the
early 1900's, from about ten thousand to less than one hundred individuals.

The arctic fox has not recovered despite seventy years of protection. Without the
conservation work of WWF, this species would most likely have gone extinct in this
region.

The major threats for this fox species are lack of rodents, and increased competition
from the red fox which takes over dens and kills the arctic fox. The increased abundance
of red fox in the tundra in northern regions is most likely caused by climate change. The
increasing average temperature has increased the tree cover in the region, and with the
trees come the red foxes.
Several projects are underway to keep the Arctic fox from becoming extinct, such as the
Swedish-Finnish-Norwegian Arctic Fox Project, which undertook measures between 2003
and 2008 to double the breeding Arctic fox population throughout those countries.