(CNN) A young female Arctic fox has shocked scientists by traveling over 3,500 km (2,175 miles) from Norway to Canada in just 76 days.

The journey took her from Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, which sits between mainland Norway and the North Pole, to Ellesmere Island, Canada, according to research published in the journal Polar Research.

Scientists from Norway's Polar Institute, which fitted the Arctic fox with a satellite transmitter, say it undertook one of the longest dispersal events --a movement from the birth place to a potential breeding location -- ever recorded for the species.

Researcher Eva Fuglei said the team couldn't believe what they were seeing as they tracked the fox.

"We didn't think it was true," said Fuglei in a statement

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