Wildlife

Arctic Voyager

An Arctic fox was tracked by Norwegian researchers as it wandered on foot for 2,737 miles from northern Norway to northern Greenland, then finally into Canada’s far north. They say it is one of the longest treks ever recorded for an Arctic fox.

A tracking device put on the animal in July 2017 allowed a team from the Norwegian Polar Institute to follow the now 2-year-old female as it moved across vast stretches of sea ice and glaciers.

The animal traveled an average of about 29 miles each day for 76 days. But at times, she walked nearly 100 miles in a single day.

No other of the species tracked by the institute wandered beyond Norway.

Cat Killers

When cats roam free, small wild animals die. And the body count in Australia exceeds 2 billion native animals per year.

Environmental researchers in Australia compiled the alarming figure by combing through hundreds of studies on the predatory habits of Australia's free-ranging pet cats as well as feral felines.

In just one day, Australia's millions of cats kill approximately 1.3 million birds, 1.8 million reptiles and over 3.1 million mammals.

Cats were introduced to Australia in the 18th century by European colonizers, and a report in 2017 found that feral cats could be found in 99.8% of the continent, including on 80% of Australia's islands.

Current estimates of the number of feral cats in Australia range from about 2 million to more than 6 million during years with a lot of rainfall, when prey is abundant. And every feral cat kills about 740 native animals annually