Ten Arctic fox cubs are getting to know their surroundings at a wildlife park in Kent.
Wildwood near Herne, which runs projects to protect, conserve and reintroduce native animals across Britain, welcomed parents Flo and Albert’s litter in May.
The five male and five female cubs have just emerged from their dens after spending the first months of their lives underground.
Sally Holt, head of the carnivore and small mammal department, said Wildwood staff knew Flo was about to give birth because she was “constantly digging”, while Albert became “aggressive” when approached.
“We realised she was making her own birthing sites because Arctic foxes like to have lots of options,” added Ms Holt.
Arctic foxes lived in Britain during the last ice age, but are now extinct in Scotland. This is because the climate warmed, the ice retreated and their habitat shrank.
Mrs Holt says the foxes at Wildwood, which can now be seen from the walkways around their purpose-built enclosure, have adapted well to Kent’s milder weather.
“Arctic foxes live in the harshest areas of our planet, in the Arctic tundra. These are areas with mainly ice fields and deep snow with very little vegetation,” she said.
The cubs, which have not yet been named, have been weaned from their mother and are regularly fed chicks, fish and berries brought by their caretakers.
When they are older, half of them are transferred to the Wildwood Trust’s sister centre in Devon.
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