The Arctic fox has been protected in Sweden since 1928. At the turn of the millennium, the Fennoscandian Arctic fox population was almost extinct.
Several conservation efforts were launched to save the species: The Joint Mountain Fox project has involved providing supplementary feeding to the Arctic foxes, vaccinating the tribe's pups in Norway, and shooting the competing red fox.
Climate change is considered to be the most serious threat to the Arctic fox. One effect of climate change is that the red fox has moved north into areas where it is not normally found, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The red fox is almost twice the size of the Arctic fox and is prone to killing Arctic foxes.
