Contemporary Improvements to the Housing Conditions and Welfare of farmed Blue Fox (Vulpes lagopus) by encouraging typical Species-specific Behaviour

The Blue Fox (Vulpes lagopus) has been bred for fur production for more than 70 years (IUCN, 2011), but traditional housing practices for this species have been questioned as they prevent species-specific behaviour. Recent research suggests that alternative housing practices, such as providing sand flooring (Ahola et al., 2009), activity objects (Koistinen et al., 2009), and nest sites (Pyykönen et al., 2010) can encourage the expression of speciesspecific behaviour. This paper summarises these new insights and discusses their welfare implications for farmed Blue Foxes.