The Arctic Fox Center

The Arctic Fox Centre ( Icelandic: Melrakkasetur ) is a research center with an attached coffee shop and an exhibition in the municipality Súðavík in the Westfjords of Iceland. The center focuses on the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus ), the only naturally occurring land mammal in Iceland. The Arctic Fox Centre was established by local residents in 2007. Ecotourism is especially encouraged and the center is a nonprofit partner of the organization One Percent for the Planet and a member of the initiative The Wild North.

The building

The exhibition and café are housed in a building dating from the last decade of the 19th century. It is located in the new part Súðavíks and overlooks the Álftafjörður. In recent years, the house was renovated by the local authority and prepared.

The exhibition

The museum consists of two parts. The first part is dedicated to the arctic fox in its natural environment and research. Several stuffed arctic foxes white, blue and beige color will be issued. Trilingual posters ( in Icelandic, German and English) treat the distribution, genetics, research and reproduction. The second part of the exhibition deals with the Icelandic tradition of fox hunting. Many original objects such as traps, guns and additional equipment can be seen. A second room houses books with legendary hunting adventures as well as interviews and photos of hunters.

Research and volunteering

The research is dedicated to three areas. The interaction between tourists and foxes, the dissection and analysis of carcasses as well as estimating the population in the West Fjords.

Most observations on the population and the behavior towards tourists are carried out in Hornstrandir nature reserve, which is a popular hiking area. The research, however, was extended recently to other area of the West Fjords. Every year for Volunteers who are watching for a few days foxes. The goal is to implement sustainable tourism, as interest in the region and to the foxes steadily increasing. Especially photographers are specifically interested in wildlife. The first results are already available and they indicate that further research is needed to determine the effect of tourists to quantify more precisely to the foxes. In addition, the Arctic Fox Center Member of The Wild North and the first non-profit partners Islands of One Percent for the Planet.