Many hypotheses have been raised to try explaining the failure of Fennoscandian arctic fox Alopex lagopus populations to recover following 60-70 years of protection. One of the most appealing hypotheses has been that they depend on scavenging the kills of ungulates made by large carnivores, mainly wolves Canis lupus, which have been absent for much of the 20th century. We examine this hypothesis using a variety of data from throughout the holarctic range of arctic foxes and conclude that there is little evidence for the importance of this food source - although it is an issue that needs to be examined in greater detail.

Key words: Alopex lagopus, arctic fox, Canis lupus, diet, interactions, intraguild, scavenging, wolf

John Linnell & Olav Strand, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Tungasletta 2, N-7485 Trondheim, Norway - e-mail: john.linnell@ninatrd.ninaniku.no

Corresponding author: John Linnell

Received 9 March 1999, accepted 3 April 2001

Associate Editor: Heikki Henttonen