Shocked, snow foxes exceeded 3,500km in just 76 days

Scientists were 'stunned' when they discovered the Arctic snow fox that went from Norway to Canada - a journey of 3.506km - in just 76 days.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the fastest recorded movement speed for this species" - scientist Eva Fuglei from the Norwegian Polar Research Institute and who followed the fox affirmed. .

A Arctic snow fox 'set a record' when moving 3,500km of road in just 76 days - (Photo: Getty Images).

According to The Guardian on July 2, the fox was worn by a necklace wearing a tracking machine in July 2017.

On March 26, 2018, the fox left Spitsbergen - the largest island belonging to the Svalbard Islands in Norway. After 21 days, on April 16, 2018, the fox traveled 1,512km and arrived in Greenland - the autonomous state of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The fox's trip did not stop there but continued to Ellesmere Island in Canada on July 1, 2018, where the fox stopped.

"At first we couldn't believe it was true," said Ms. Fuglei.

Scientist Norway Polar Research Institute attaches tracking device to snow fox - (Photo: Norwegian Polar Research Institute).

The report of the Norwegian Polar Research Institute confirmed that this is the longest recorded journey for the snow fox . The journey was so long that the scientists thought that the tracking device on the fox's necklace had been removed and put on a ship.

The tracking device sends data to headquarters every 3 hours. Accordingly, on average, each day the fox went total 46.3 km and a special day while being in Northern Greenland, the fox went 155km.

Scientists predict that the fox used ice sheets as "transport vehicles".

"Ice in the sea plays an important role in reporting migration between regions, meeting other populations and finding food," Fuglei said.

However, the details of the fox's journey have raised concerns about how the melting of ice will affect the ability of many animals to move and migrate.

The road of the snow fox goes from Norway to Canada, a long journey of 3.506km - (Photo: NINA).

The fox's whereabouts are unknown because its GPS tracking device has been shut down since February 2019.

Arctic snow fox is one of the animals with the harshest weather when they can withstand temperatures as low as -50 degrees C.

In winter, when food is rare, they will follow larger predators to eat leftovers. A snow fox usually lives 3 to 7 years and weighs up to 7.5kg.