Arctic fox rescued in OR finds new forever home in Wisconsin

The Arctic fox that made headlines after being rescued in Oregon has found a new forever home at Ochsner Park Zoo in Wisconsin. The young fox with snowy white fur will receive behind-the-scenes care from Oregon Zoo veterinarians until Nov. 14, which is when she will be moved to her new home at Ochsner Park Zoo in Wisconsin. (Video: Oregon Zoo)

The Arctic fox that made headlines after being rescued in Oregon has found a new forever home at Ochsner Park Zoo in Wisconsin.

Zookeepers say the fox, now named Luna, is feeling sick. You can make a donation to Ochsner Park Zoo through the Barraboo city website, just scroll down to the zoo donation section.

In mid-October, people began reporting sightings of a mysterious white animal wandering in Portland, Oregon. Eventually, animal rescuers captured the animal and positively identified it as an Arctic fox.

A white animal seen wandering around Portland, Oregon was safely captured by animal rescuers, and it was positively identified as an arctic fox. The Bird Alliance of Oregon posted photos of the female fox on Facebook saying she was brought into its Wildlife Care Center on Saturday, but they don’t know what brought her to Portland in the first place. The shelter says the arctic fox is considered an exotic animal, since they don’t naturally occur in Oregon. Arctic foxes are native to tundra biomes, which in North America, can be found in coastal areas surrounding Alaska and across northern Canada. Across the globe, arctic foxes are common in places like Greenland, Svalbard and Norther Russia. Workers at the shelter say the fox is friendly, and approached people when she was being rescued. This indicates that she most likely raised in captivity, since she is not expressing appropriate fear responses to humans that a wild animal would have. It is illegal to own a fox as a pet in Washington and Oregon. The shelter said this arctic fox’s story is unfortunately something that happens a lot with wild animals.

Photo: Bird Alliance of Oregon

When animal rescuers captured the animal, she was friendly and approached people, indicating that she was likely raised in captivity. Arctic foxes are also considered exotic, because they are not native to the Pacific Northwest.

It was determined that the 6.5-pound female was likely a pet, even though it is illegal to own a pet fox in Washington and Oregon. Workers who first brought her into care at The Bird Alliance of Oregon said this Arctic fox’s story is unfortunately common with wild animals.

Because of her upbringing, she would not be able to survive in the wild.

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Photo: Bird Alliance of Oregon

The community expressed concern about the possibility of the Arctic fox being euthanized. However, the animal shelter assured the public that she would likely be sent to a more suitable home, which was later revealed to be the Oregon Zoo.

Oregon Zoo

The young fox, with snowy white fur, will receive behind-the-scenes care from zoo veterinarians until Nov. 14, when she will be moved to her new home at Ochsner Park Zoo in Wisconsin, joining a male fox named Apollo.

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