subject: Top 5 Animals Of Cold Deserts [print this page] Cold deserts stretch in a line across northern parts of North America continent, Greenland Island and Russia in Eurasia. Severe natural conditions, including climate and soil poverty, preconditioned a specific wildlife appearance on these lands, which adapted through milestones of an animal evolution. Here is the list of the most representative animals, which found their natural habitat in cold deserts (also called as tundra in Russia).
1.Musk ox is a common animal for Canada, Alaska and Greenland, which is an example of strict adaptation to cold climate of the area with its thick wool and firm horns, which facilitate them in cruel fights with other species, such as wolves packs and bears. Musk oxen live in small flocks, feeding on sparse arctic vegetation: moss, reindeer moss and shrubs.
2.Lemming is a representative of small rodents group, eating seeds, leaves and young shoots. There is a wide-spread assumption that lemmings are able to make suicides (throwing themselves into the water) in order to preserve a stable amount of their population; these animals are characterized with overwhelming fertility. On the contrary, the idea of their diving is also justified in that all the members of large lemming groups cannot cross a wide river or lake in case of need.
3.Polar wolves possess a white wool appearance due to which it is hard to recognize then among snow spaces of cold deserts. This enables wolf pack suddenly get closer to its prey: it is mainly large herbivores, such as musk ox and moose. Wolf also may attack small animals - beavers, rabbits, hairs and rats. In pursuit of the herd of caribou and deer, wolves can go more than 100 kilometers a day.
4.The only comfortable way to move on short distances for people in cold deserts is riding on sled dogs. The best dog breeds for such a work are Siberian and Eskimo husky. Taking evolutionary roots from wolves species, they also possess cruelty and aggressiveness notwithstanding their limitless loyalty to a master. They are hardy and tireless, tolerate cold and are content with a small amount of food.
5.Arctic fox lives only in the Arctic zone. There are two main varieties of foxes - white and blue. The blue fox live primarily in snowless areas and white fox, on the contrary, prefers the snow-covered ground, its skin (white, except for a few black hairs on the tail) is an excellent camouflage, the fur of arctic fox becomes dark in the summer. Foxes do not live in packs, it is a solitary animal.
