Garbage may cause substantial environmental perturbations, in part because of its consumption by wildlife. Such consumption may have direct health implications for animals and may also influence trophic relationships. Even in pristine Arctic ecosystems, wildlife feeding in marine environments consume garbage in the form of plastic debris transported by ocean currents. We show that Arctic wildlife in pristine terrestrial environments may also ingest garbage or food items derived from abandoned camp sites. We found the remains of a chocolate wrapper and a milk powder bag in two Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) scats and a piece of cloth in an Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos) scat collected near Nares Strait, northern Greenland, one of the most pristine terrestrial wilderness regions on Earth. Found on Washington Land and associated with long-abandoned camp sites, these three scats were among 657 Arctic fox scats and 92 wolf scats collected as part of a larger study. Our study demonstrates that these two highly opportunistic predators managed to consume garbage despite the almost complete lack of human activity in this High-Arctic region. Our results highlight that abandoned anthropogenic material in the High Arctic may function as a source of garbage for local terrestrial wildlife over extended time periods, and that garbage consumption may become a potential issue if human activity in remote Arctic regions increases.

垃圾可能会造成严重的环境扰动，部分原因是野生动物消耗垃圾。这种消费可能对动物有直接的健康影响，也可能影响营养关系。即使在原始的北极生态系统中，在海洋环境中进食的野生动物也会消耗洋流输送的塑料碎片形式的垃圾。我们发现，原始陆地环境中的北极野生动物也可能摄入来自废弃营地的垃圾或食物。我们在格陵兰岛北部纳雷斯海峡附近收集的两只北极狐（ Vulpes lagopus ）粪便中发现了一块巧克力包装纸和一个奶粉袋的残骸，在一只北极狼（Canis lupus arctos ）粪便中发现了一块布。地球上的陆地荒野地区。这三个粪便是在华盛顿土地上发现的，与长期废弃的营地有关，是一项更大规模研究的一部分，收集了 657 个北极狐粪便和 92 个狼粪便。我们的研究表明，尽管这个高北极地区几乎完全缺乏人类活动，但这两种高度机会主义的掠食者仍然成功地吃掉了垃圾。我们的研究结果强调，在很长一段时间内，高北极地区废弃的人类活动材料可能会成为当地陆地野生动物的垃圾来源，如果偏远北极地区的人类活动增加，垃圾消耗可能会成为一个潜在问题。