Data from: Den attendance by Arctic foxes experiencing 10 years of increasing tourism

Wildlife tourism is a growing industry, and an increasing number of people
seek to observe and interact with wild animals in their natural
surroundings. In Iceland, the native Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is
widespread and has been under heavy hunting pressure for centuries.
However, in Hornstrandir nature reserve (66° 44'N, 22° 42'W),
foxes have been protected from hunting since 1994. These foxes are
relatively tame and have become popular amongst tourists who want to
observe and take close-up photos of young cubs. Breeding foxes, therefore,
face increasing human disturbance within their active den area. In this
study, parental visits to fox dens and tourist activities in the area were
monitored in 2008 and then annually for a ten-year period (2010-2019). The
data demonstrated an increase in tourism near fox dens, and a decrease in
the frequency with which fox parents visit the den. The results further
suggest that foxes visited the den less often when tourists were present
(reducing from 0.23 visits per hour by females in the peak time of day
without tourists, to 0.18 visits per hour with tourists present). This
study gives support to our hypothesis that tourist activity disturbs the
frequency of parental visits to their offspring, but at current levels of
tourism, this may not be affecting the frequency of parental feeding.