Without a doubt, the majority of visitors as well as Alaska residents hope to see brown bears, black bears, and grizzlies during their adventures in the great outdoors. The growing popularity of Alaska as a vacation destination is attracting increasing numbers of wildlife viewing enthusiasts from all over the world. But the most popular bear viewing areas in the state, aside from visiting Denali National Park, have reached their saturation point for the number of visitors who are allowed into these critically sensitive areas.
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Classification and Range
The class of foxes belongs to the order Carnivora and in the family Canidae. There are 20 species of foxes in six genera: Alopex (arctic foxes), Cerdocyon (crab-eating foxes), Otocyon (bat-eared foxes), Pseudalopex (South American foxes), Urocyon (gray foxes) and Vulpes (all other foxes).* Debate continues on whether the arctic fox should be classified into Vulpes or into its own genus of Alopex. The arctic fox is also known as the polar fox or the white fox.
General
An evergreen ground cover.
Ecology
Grows in diverse habitats from dry roadside slopes to acid-peat bogs, and from mature spruce-hardwood forests to exposed arctic and alpine tundra. It grows in dense mats, 8 to 12 inches (20–30 cm) tall in deep shady forests but also forms ground-hugging mats scattered among the rocks of exposed alpine outcrops. Fruit is most abundant in exposed sites that have acid soils with a high organic matter content.