page_title: Canadian Arctic tundra
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Canadian Arctic tundra / Wildlife / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla on the cliffs of Cape Graham Moore (south-eastern tip of Bylot Island at Baffin Bay, Sirmilik National Park, Canada)
context_page_description: The Canadian Arctic tundra is a biogeographic designation for Northern Canada's terrain generally lying north of the tree line or boreal forest, that corresponds with the Scandinavian Alpine tundra to the east and the Siberian Arctic tundra to the west inside the circumpolar tundra belt of the Northern Hemisphere.
  Canada's northern territories encompass a total area of 2,600,000 km², 26% of the country's landmass that includes the Arctic coastal tundra, the Arctic Lowlands and the Innuitian Region in the High Arctic. Tundra terrain accounts for approximately 1,420,000 km² in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, in Nunavut, north-eastern Manitoba, northern Ontario, northern Quebec, northern Labrador and the islands of the Arctic Archipelago, of which Baffin Island with 507,451 km² is the largest.
  Canada's tundra is characterized by extreme climatic conditions with year-round frozen grounds, long and cold winters, a very short growing season and low precipitation rates.
context_section_description: During the brief Arctic summer, migratory birds - ducks, geese, shore birds, jaegers (skua), gulls, terns, songbirds, owls and others nest in the mosaic of habitats provided by the tundra. The snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca) and the common raven (Corvus corax) live in the Arctic tundra year-round.
  Most recent mammal species have a greatly varied evolutionary history:
  Mammals that lived on the land masses of Northern Canada, able to survive in the polar deserts are the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), and the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus). Recent statistics show there are 26,000 polar bears worldwide, of which two of the three largest sub-populations are found in the Canadian Arctic. The Arctic fox is abundant today throughout the Canadian Arctic with a population of approximately 100,000 individuals. Arctic foxes in northern regions such as Ellesmere Island have a diet consisting mainly of lemmings.
  Mammal species that existed on the tundra before the Beringia land bridge are the Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus) and diverse lemming species (Dicrostonyx spp.) and muskox (Ovibus moschatus).
  Mammals absent from the tundra before the Beringia land bridge but widespread in other parts of North Canada are the boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus), Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos) and ermine or stoat (Mustela ermine). Approximately, 3 million caribou are found in the Canadian Arctic. There is a dynamic relationship between the caribou and wolves, as the caribou is the main and practically exclusive source of food for wolves.
  Mammals living in open habitats with forest, that continued breeding during the Beringia land bridge consist of the masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) and the northern red-backed vole (Myodes rutilus).
  Mammals that lived in open habitats with forests. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and wolverine (Gulo gulo) originated in forests and are still expanding their territory in northern Canada.
  Mammals now common on the tundra but not existent before the Beringia land bridge occurred. These mammals consist of the Arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) and North American brown lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus).
  Migrating mammals from Eurasia that crossed the Beringia land bridge and adapted to the tundra climate and environment. These mammals consist of the brown bear (Ursus arctos), including the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis.), and the tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus).
  Notable marine species include the narwhal (Monodon monoceros), the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), the walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) and the ringed seal (Pusa hispida).
  Insect species include the Bombus polaris and Bombus hyperboreus (Arctic bumblebees, the mosquito, the hoverfly and the black fly.
  Invasive species include the cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae), common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and the house sparrow (Passer domesticus).
caption: Black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), Bylot Island at Baffin Bay
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