Vulpes zerda

Fennec fox (scientific name: Vulpes zerda) is also known as fennec or Fennec Fox in English. It is one of the smallest canids in the world, about the size of a kitten, and has no subspecies.

Hot days and cold nights are common in the North African desert, and the small fennec fox is well adapted to the harsh environment of the North African desert. Their feet are covered with soft, long, fine hair to keep them warm, which also makes it easier to walk on the loose sand. The two open large ears are like a radiator that keeps dissipating heat, and at the same time help detect prey. In a water-scarce environment, they can survive for a long time by looking for edible plants near their habitat. Water-saving measures include staying in caves on hot days and going out only at night. Thick fur can isolate the cold of the desert night. When the temperature drops below 20℃, the fennec fox begins to shiver. When the temperature exceeds 35℃, it will pant from the heat. The breathing rate during panting quickly soars from 23 times/minute to 690 times/minute.

Adult fennec foxes are agile and good at playing and frolicking. They can usually jump 0.7 meters high; when fully standing, they are more than 1 meter tall. Such characteristics help catch prey. Fennec foxes sleep during the day and forage at night to avoid the scorching heat of the desert sun. The caves they live in usually have multiple entrances and exits, and they will escape once they find an enemy. Caves are generally built under the bushes in the desert so that the roots and stems of plants can support the walls of the tunnel, and the leaves are used by female foxes to pave the nest.

Fennec foxes are highly social species, with parents and offspring forming family groups of no more than 10, and each family unit demarcating its own territory through urine and feces. They have a strong sense of defending their territory and protecting their young. In some cases, multiple fennec fox families may live together, sharing the same complex cave, and even when this symbiosis occurs, male foxes still go out to forage alone like other foxes. They follow the principle of opportunism and will reserve food for the future.

Fennec foxes communicate through frequent voice changes, and adult foxes and young foxes will make various sounds such as squeaks, whimpers or screams. The pitch-dropping roars are usually short and loud, and repeated many times.

Fennec foxes have small serrated teeth and dig for food. Like other desert omnivores, they can eat almost anything. Common food species include small rodents, lizards, birds, eggs, insects and other meats; fruits, leaves and plant roots are also an important part of the diet. This plant-based vegetarian diet provides all the hydration, so as long as there is additional plant supplementation, fennec foxes can survive in a water-deficient environment. Hunting alone, judging the location of prey by sound, and biting the neck to kill the prey.

Fennec foxes are monogamous animals, mating in the territory, and the pair relationship is fixed for life. The mating season is from January to February each year (the female fox is in estrus for only a few days), and giving birth in March and April. Every year, after a gestation period of 50 to 53 days (average 50 days), female foxes usually give birth to 2 to 4 pups (5 or 6 pups are not common), and the newborn pups weigh about 50 grams. Fennec foxes have a low reproduction rate, and female foxes only reproduce once a year. The pups are raised by female foxes in the cave for the first two weeks after birth until their eyes open. The pups begin to move around in the cave when they are 4 weeks old, during which time the male fox is responsible for providing food and guarding the cave house (the cave can be up to 10 meters long); when the pups are 5 weeks old, their range of activities expands to the vicinity of the cave entrance. The weaning period is about 61 to 70 days (or 3 months), which is longer than the cycle of most other foxes. They grow up to sexual maturity in 9 to 11 months. The longest lifespan of wild fennec foxes is 10 years, and captive domestic foxes are known to have lived to 12 years.

Humans and dogs are considered the main threats to fennec foxes. Fennec foxes are hunted commercially in North Africa for the pet trade, for meat sold to locals for consumption, or for their fur made into clothing. They are also killed by domestic dogs. Such threats have caused a decline in the number of some fennec fox populations in northwest Africa. For example, in southern Morocco, the construction of some permanent human settlements has led to the disappearance of local fennec foxes.

The Disney movie "Zootopia" has attracted countless attention, and Finnick in the film is also impressive. It often disguises itself as a child. It must be this cuteness that makes many children unable to stop. The prototype species corresponding to Finnick is the fennec fox. Chinese parents want to buy a fennec fox from "Zootopia" for their children to keep as a pet, but they find that the online selling price ranges from thousands to tens of thousands. Because it is a protected animal, it can only be traded privately. According to the relevant personnel of the Wildlife Protection Division of the Sichuan Provincial Forestry Department, the fennec fox enjoys the level of national second-class protected animals in China. If it is to be traded in the market, it must go through a series of procedures to obtain qualifications before it can be traded legally. Individual buyers are likely to violate the law because they do not have the qualifications to buy.

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species: Least Concern (LC), assessed in 2015.

Listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The fennec fox is protected by relevant laws in Morocco (including Western Sahara), Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.

Listed in Appendix I, Appendix II and Appendix III of the 2019 edition of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Protect wild animals and eliminate game.

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Widely distributed in deserts and semi-deserts from North Africa to the northern Sinai Peninsula in Asia.
Origin: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia.
It lives in deserts and semi-deserts and prefers stable sand dunes that are easy to dig holes. There are usually grass or bushes near the caves, and the fennec fox uses such plants to support, cover and bedding the nest.

The fennec fox is the smallest of the foxes, and its large ears are perhaps its most recognizable feature. Small snout. Black iris. Long, soft fur that is mostly pale yellow, which helps camouflage in the desert. The face is lighter, with dark stripes below the inner eye extending to the sides of the snout. The reddish tail is thick and dense, with a black tip and a black patch at the base. The fennec foxes of North Africa have slender limbs that are pale yellowish to reddish, while those farther south have almost all white limbs.
The ears are a large proportion of the head and are the most recognizable feature of the species. Adults have thick, silky fur, with a pale yellow back and white belly, legs, face, and inner ears. In contrast, young foxes have almost all white fur. Fennec foxes, like most foxes, have black or dark brown glands under the fur on their tails (the tip of the tail is a similar color). The feet are densely furred. The eyes, snout, and vibrissae are all dark. Wea