00:02We're here at the San Diego Zoo with our two arctic foxes Isaac and Kinnick. Both our fox
00:08are named with Inuit words. Isaac meaning smoke and she's a blue-faced arctic fox and Kinnick
00:16meaning frost and he is our beautiful white male. Their similarities are they are very smart animals,
00:23they're curious about everything, but Kinnick is very bold. He is not frightened of anything,
00:30he's go get them, he loves playing, loves interacting. Isaac is much more shy,
00:35although she's curious but she'll back off first and she's probably the most difficult for keepers
00:41to get to know. Arctic fox in the wild eat a diet that mainly consists of bulls and lemmings and
00:47other
00:47rodents that live in the tundra area of the arctic. They will eat other vegetation if they need to.
00:53Here at the zoo we give them a beef-based diet along with some different dog chows and whole bones
00:58that they love to gnaw and chew on. Plus of course crickets from time to time. Both Isaac and Kinnick
01:04are three years old. They will be turning four this spring. They are considered to be fully adult
01:10arctic fox. In the wild arctic fox barely live beyond three years of age. In zoos luckily they do have
01:17a
01:17much longer life expectancy so we expect to have these guys here for quite a bit longer. Since we do
01:22have
01:23two adult fox people often ask are we going to breed them and if they would like to they can.
01:29Female fox
01:30reach sexual maturity before their first birthday so it is possible that in the future we might have
01:36a litter of kids. Currently arctic fox are not considered endangered but we know that that status
01:42will change. Because of over hunting there are areas where arctic fox populations have not recovered.
01:48But the greatest threat right now is the warming of the arctic which threatens some of their food sources.
01:54And also as the arctic warms red fox move in and they are a much more aggressive species and will
01:59push arctic fox out.
02:01It is a little challenging in our temperate San Diego climate to help arctic fox because fox have the greatest
02:08most insulated properties of any fur of any mammal. So we do have air conditioned bedrooms for them that they
02:14can go into when it is too warm for them. But we have lots of shade and misters and things
02:20like that
02:20that keep it cool on exhibit for them as well. Typically if you come to the zoo during the day
02:25the time that
02:26they are most active is first thing in the morning and later in the evening. And usually during the day
02:32they are sleeping but they love to dig. They love to carry things around and you can often see them
02:40poking their heads out of holes that they have just dug. It is great to watch the fox interact with
02:47our
02:47guests and be curious about them and enjoy our guests as much as our guests are enjoying them.
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