FENNEC FOXES

FENNEC FOXES

The fennec fox is the smallest of the foxes and has the largest ears. Its evolution it most unusual. It lives only in deserts mostly north of the Sahara. 

Its fur is of the palest colour of the foxes. At the back it is creamy coloured and at the stomach it is white. 

The bushy tail has black or dark brown tip.

Its large triangular ears has on top the same colour as on the back and inside the ears are paler longer hair. Like the rest of his family foxes his head is flattened and a narrow pointed muzzle.

Its eyes look dark especially against the cream coloured fur and the whiskers are dark.
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HABITAT

The long ears which can be up to 15cm long are one of the fox’s adaptations to his hot dry surroundings. Since foxes are know for their sharp hearing but these ears also help to lose body heat.  The change into sandy colour of its coat also provides a camouflage. Another evolution occurred in growing fur on the sole of his feet to withstand the heat of the sand.

It has a further advantage in having strong legs and paws. This enables the Fennec Fox to dig in so quickly to either catch a prey or escape being eating. People remarked that it is so fast it looks like it is sinking.

FAMILY LIFE

The fennec fox lives on in desert or semi-desert areas. It lives more in a family of 10 or 15 not like other species of foxes.  Each family has one predominant male which marks it territory with urine. It had not been established ho big these territories are but it is thought they are not very big.

They use various sounds of wails, growls and excited chattering noises.  Fennec foxes also make calls of distances and it can last for one or two seconds which sounds like a melancholy howl.

It hunts and lives on the top at night. During the day it is resting in burrows which are deep because the further down the cooler it is.  The tunnels are several metres long. It assumed that they may have several chambers and exists as well as entrances.

DIETS

The fennec has an enormous appetite. It eats mainly rodents digging them out at night.

They also eat bird eggs, lizards and insects, particularly the terrible desert pest, the locust. Experts assume that they bury surplus food underground.  Like the rest of the species the Fennec spends most its nights looking for food.  It will drink when near a water hole but it had been seen far form any desert oases and can go for long periods without water.

MATING SEASON

They mate from January to March. During this time the male becomes aggressive and defends it territory. Gestation takes about 50 days. They give birth to their young between March and May. The cubs are born in a chamber lined with grasses. They usual have one to five cubs and are 5cm long and blind, weight 42-45gr. When they are born their ears and tail are short but start growing quickly after the third week. The coat is dark sandy coloured and has a dark stripe down the back. The face is also black.

After the third month they get the adult colour.

The female rests for the last few days before the birth. The male brings food to the den.

When the female give birth to its young she turns fierce and defends the young ones. The male stays close by but does not go too close. The cubs open their eyes between 12 and 20 days and start eating solids at three weeks of age.  This food will be brought to the den by the male. After that they venture out of the den and after one year they are sexually matured.  It had been known that younger foxes challenge older one and also kill them.

Mostly females have a litter once a year but if they lose it they can have another within the year.

DANGER OF EXTINCTION

It does not threaten human existence but it is still hunted right across their territories. The result is that its number is reducing and now only exists at certainly area. Once it was widely spread across Arabia but now it is extremely rare. However, it responses well to conservation programmes bred well in zoos.