In the past few years, many media have used two pictures to show the extent and harm of global warming, these two pictures most people have seen, the first is a skinny polar bear, the second is a red fox killing an arctic fox. These two pictures look shocking, making many people start to worry about the living conditions of Arctic animals.
At present, the number of polar bears is at an all-time high, and there is no threat of extinction in a short period of time. The conflict between the Red Fox and the Arctic Fox has lasted for a long time, and the distribution areas of the two have overlapped in large areas, and global warming has exacerbated the conflict between the two.
Fox species
Red fox and arctic fox are both canine-fox subfamily-foxes, the same genus is different species, the conflict between the two belongs to interspecies competition, not cannibalism, red fox to kill the arctic fox is the same as the tiger lion kills leopard.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > an overview of the red fox and the arctic fox</h1>
The red fox, also known as the fire fox, is the largest, most widely distributed and most numerous fox.
The red fox is found in all regions of Asia except Southeast Asia, the southern part of the Indian Peninsula and a small part of the polar circle, and is also distributed in the middle and high latitudes of North America, as well as in North Africa. The red fox was even introduced to Australia more than a hundred years ago, in order to eliminate the flood of rabbits, the result is that the rabbits are not eliminated, and the red fox is flooded again.
The red fox has a white beak from the tip of the chin to the abdomen, black on the tips of the ears and soles of the feet, and is usually reddish-brown in other parts, and the body color varies according to the environment, season and subspecies.
Red foxes generally weigh 3.4-14 kg, shoulder height 35-40 cm, body length (excluding tail) 85 cm, the maximum can grow to 17.2 kg. The red fox is extremely survivable, able to adapt to urban life, the existing wild number is extremely large, in the large cities of European countries, the red fox is an extremely common animal. There are also red foxes living in parks in some urban centers of our country.
The red fox belongs to the wild animals in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals Protected by the State or with Important Economic and Scientific Research Value", referred to as "Three Animals". The red fox is an omnivore, and everything that can be eaten will not be spared, which is the guarantee of its survival ability.
Arctic foxes live in and around the Arctic Circle, with pure white coats in winter, black eyes and nose tips, and gradually turn bluish gray from spring to summer, called "green foxes". Arctic foxes generally weigh 3-5 kg, shoulder height 30 cm, body length 60 cm, the main prey of the arctic fox is lemmings, will also follow the polar bear to collect debris.
Arctic fox in summer
Red foxes and arctic foxes overlap widely in northern Russia, northern Europe, Canada and northern Alaska, and there are many examples of conflicts between the two.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the conflict between the red fox and the arctic fox</h1>
Red foxes and arctic foxes share similar habits, and both are generally monogamous animals, with couples raising offspring together. In barren high-latitude areas, conflicts between the two sides are difficult to avoid in order to compete for limited food.
In North America and Northern Europe, scientists have observed many conflicts between red foxes and arctic foxes, and in Scandinavia, researchers have documented seven cases of conflicts between the two.
The average male in Europe is 6.4 kg and the female is 5.2 kg. Arctic foxes average 3.8 kg for males and 3.1 kg for females. The size of the Arctic fox is at an overall disadvantage, so in various conflicts, the red fox basically has the upper hand.
1. When the male Arctic fox returns to the nest with the cubs, he finds the female red fox and chases her.
2. A male red fox digs the cave of the arctic fox, and the male arctic fox appears at the mouth of the cave, bites its hind limbs, and drives it away from the hole. But the male red fox continued to entangle, driving the arctic fox to a hillside. Eventually, the Arctic Fox returned to the cave.
3. The female red fox killed the cub of the arctic fox, and the female arctic fox screamed in sorrow for thirty minutes.
From left to right, red fox, arctic fox, and raccoon
4. A male red fox approaches the mouth of the Arctic fox cave, the female Arctic fox emits a threatening scream, and when the red fox approaches, the arctic fox mother and child hide in the cave together.
5. Three Arctic fox cubs found the female red fox and escaped by burrowing into the hole.
6, a small arctic fox found the red fox hurried into the hole.
7. Two red foxes kill an arctic fox.
It can be seen that the Arctic Fox can at best protect itself when facing the Red Fox, but the Red Fox can kill the Arctic Fox. Red foxes are the greatest threat to Arctic fox cubs, and in areas without red foxes, arctic fox cubs have a higher survival rate. Hersteinsson (1984) argues that the northern limit of red fox distribution is determined by the amount of food in the habitat, while the southern limit of arctic fox distribution is determined by competition with red foxes.
Some scientists have shown that with the rise of temperature in the Arctic region, the distribution range of the red fox has a tendency to expand, and the overlap range with the arctic fox is also increasing, which is very unfavorable to the arctic fox.
One of the most famous clashes between the Red Fox and the Arctic Fox took place in Pradeho Bay in northern Alaska.
In November 2004, scientists photographed a red fox fighting an arctic fox.
The Red Fox always has the upper hand and constantly attacks the Arctic Fox. The Arctic Fox can only passively resist. Eventually the red fox bites the neck of the arctic fox and shakes its head until the arctic fox loses its breath. The red fox then dragged away the arctic fox's body.
The fur of arctic foxes is a very efficient warm material, resulting in their mass hunting in modern times. The number of Arctic foxes in Scandinavia declined dramatically in the early 20th century, and the number has not recovered since (Hersteinsson et al., 1989). Despite the lack of sufficient evidence, competition and hunting of red foxes may be one of the reasons why Arctic fox populations are difficult to recover (Hersteinsson et al., 1989), and wolverines can also have an impact on Arctic fox populations.
Although arctic foxes are currently legally protected in Norway and Sweden, their numbers are still difficult to recover. Although humans did not directly hunt arctic foxes, they were indirectly reducing their numbers.
In general, the Arctic Fox is at a disadvantage in competition with the Red Fox, which is able to hunt and kill the Arctic Fox and even affect the number of Arctic Foxes.
Interspecific conflicts in canines are as intense as felines, with red foxes killing arctic foxes, coyotes killing red foxes, and gray wolves killing coyotes, and human-induced environmental changes are making interspecific conflicts in nature more intense.