Iceland's Only Predator
1d 9h ago by lemmy.world/u/anon6789 in animals
From Carlos A Carmona
Iceland's only predator, the Arctic Fox. Babies are just too cute playing nonstop.
In the wild, most individuals do not live past their first year but some exceptional ones survive up to 11 years. --WP
Yikes, that seems sad for a fox.
Natural predators of the Arctic fox include golden eagles, Arctic wolves, polar bears, wolverines, red foxes, and brown bears.
Still, if all those are lacking on Iceland, I guess it would naturally tend to live longer?
The first year seems to be the toughest for a lot of animals. They don't get a lot of do-overs when they make mistakes. I think first year owl survival rates are around 50%.
I would have thought the weather would be a big contributing factor, but when looking for more Iceland-specific info, I saw this:
This dense, furry protection provides the fox with an enormous advantage against the cold, with temperatures having to drop as low as -94°F (-50°C) before the animal begins to show visible signs of discomfort. In this sense, the Arctic Fox trumps the mighty and far more infamous Polar Bear as the Arctic Circle's best-suited predator. (Source)
Maybe it is just finding a reliable source of food that is key. 🤔
That article also called the fix Iceland's only native mammal. That feels so odd, but it makes sense, it being an island. I wonder how they got there when no other mammal did...