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FILE – Luna was first spotted in Portland near the bike path off S. Macadam Avenue on October 9, 2024.<\/p>\n
Julie Sabatier \/ OPB<\/p>\n
A young arctic fox found wandering Portland two years ago, alone and far from her natural territory, is capturing hearts in the Midwest. <\/p>\n
With her fuzzy ears, round dark eyes and fluffy white coat, the little fox made headlines in Portland in October of 2024. That\u2019s when several people \u2014 including an OPB employee \u2014 spotted her wandering near Willamette Park<\/a>. <\/p>\n A few days after the initial sightings, she was captured and taken to the Bird Alliance of Oregon, where she received care for hunger and dehydration. Wildlife officials there confirmed she was a juvenile arctic fox and said she was likely raised in captivity as a pet. <\/p>\n Luna couldn\u2019t be released into the wild because she lacks survival skills and is unafraid of humans, so the Bird Alliance of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Agriculture worked together to find her a new home. The Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wisconsin, agreed to take her<\/a> and house her with its resident male arctic fox, Apollo. <\/p>\n First image: Arctic fox Luna, seen here shortly after she arrived at a Wisconsin zoo in November 2024. Second image: Luna, a female arctic fox, shortly after arriving at the Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wis. <\/p>\n All images: Courtesy of Ochsner Park Zoo.<\/p>\n This week, almost exactly two years after captivating Portlanders, the Bird Alliance of Oregon shared an update on Facebook<\/a> about how the fox \u2014 now officially named Luna \u2014 is faring.<\/p>\n New friends<\/p>\n Apollo isn\u2019t Luna\u2019s only furry companion at the zoo: She also shares an enclosure with two black bears \u2014 an adult named Taglu and a cub named Aspen. She was scared of Apollo and Taglu at first, but now Luna often instigates play and nips Taglu to get him to chase her, Katie Gries, manager of the Ochsner Park Zoo, told OPB. <\/p>\n When asked about the practicalities of 15-pound foxes living with black bears, one of which weighs 400 pounds, Gries said it comes down to slow introductions and careful management of the three things they would compete over in the wild: food, water and shelter. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got ample amounts,\u201d she said. \u201cWe separate everybody for their high-priority items so that they don\u2019t have a reason to fight, and then we scatter-feed everything else.\u201d Gries added that foxes like to \u201ccache,\u201d or hide, their food, with the intention of coming back later to eat it. \u201cWell, black bears have just as good of a sniffer as them, so they often go around and find their food, so they\u2019re helping us enrich and diversify our black bears\u2019 day.\u201d <\/p>\n Luna, an arctic fox found in Portland, Ore., in October 2024, in the enclosure she shares with arctic fox Apollo (mid-left) and black bears Taglu (top, left) and Aspen (top, right), at the Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wis.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Ochsner Park Zoo<\/p>\n The enclosure also has plenty of stimulating activities, like puzzles, and places for each species to seek alone time from the other. Gries said Luna sometimes nips the bears on the butt to play and, when the bears have had enough, they simply climb to an elevated perch where they\u2019re out of reach. <\/p>\n Luna\u2019s youthful goading is also sometimes directed at 7-year-old Apollo. <\/p>\n \u201cOriginally, Apollo was thrilled to have a new friend to play with that was his size,\u201d said Gries, explaining that Luna was wary and kept her distance at first. \u201cFast-forward to nowadays, the morning starts with her pulling Apollo by the tail, trying to get him to play, and he\u2019s screaming at her. And that\u2019s typical in our morning routine.\u201d <\/p>\n When she\u2019s not pulling his tail, the two are often found chasing each other, playing and sleeping together. Gries said Apollo is neutered, so there will be no baby foxes, which are known as kits, in the future. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have no reason to breed; it\u2019d be irresponsible for us to do so,\u201d Gries said. \u201cA lot of our animals are rescuer rehabs here.\u201d <\/p>\n Clever fox <\/p>\n Gries said Luna keeps staff on their toes. <\/p>\n During training sessions in the keeper area, a task that helps prepare the foxes for vet procedures, Luna demonstrates her talent for disappearing. Gries said if she turns her back for a second, Luna will have silently shot to a different area to climb on top of equipment. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had to change how we store things because she likes to steal things from the keeper area and chew on them,\u201d Gries said. <\/p>\n First image: Luna, an arctic fox found in Portland, Ore., in October 2024, at the Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wis. Second image: Luna plays with an enrichment toy. Its cost was covered by her sponsor, Busy Bee Waxing Studio, at the Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wis. <\/p>\n All images: Courtesy of Ochsner Park Zoo.<\/p>\n Luna is also a fan favorite among zoo visitors. <\/p>\n \u201cShe likes to sit out in the front of her enclosure, attracting a lot of attention,\u201d wrote the Bird Alliance. <\/p>\n Luna is a fully sponsored animal at the Ochsner Park Zoo, which means members of the public or businesses cover her care costs. Each sponsorship lasts a year, and sponsors get an \u201canimal encounter,\u201d Gries said. \u201cLuna and Apollo\u2019s encounters with their sponsorship was they made paintings for them that they got to then take home.\u201d<\/p>\n Exotic pets An undated photo of Luna, an arctic fox found in Portland, Ore., in October 2024, at the Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wis.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Ochsner Park Zoo<\/p>\n Arctic foxes are illegal to own as pets in Oregon. They are a non-native fox species and are classified<\/a> as regulated exotic animals alongside mammals like elephants, rhinos and big cats.<\/p>\n There are a few exceptions \u2014 licensed educational and scientific institutions (like zoos or accredited research facilities) and wildlife rehabilitation centers can legally keep non-native foxes. Private owners with permits issued by the state before January 2010 can legally keep a non-native fox for as long as it lives. <\/p>\n Certain native foxes, including red and gray foxes, can be legally raised in captivity<\/a> by licensed commercial fur farms, but they can\u2019t be sold as pets. These kinds of businesses are regulated by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. <\/p>\n The fur industry has shrunk dramatically over the last couple of decades amid pressure from animal rights groups and declining pelt prices. Attempts to pass statewide restrictions \u2014 such as House Bill 2676<\/a>, which sought to ban the sale and distribution of new fur products \u2014 have not been successful. <\/p>\n![\"Arctic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/XJVQACTKHNAY3J2FYUI4JDP4IY.jpg\")
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