About Fennec Fox

Fennec Fox As Exotic Pets is a one stop information website about Fennec Foxes.

The Little Nocturnal Fennec Fox

The Fennec Fox with its scientific name Vulpes zerda lives in the Sahara Desert of North Africa. Its most distinguished feature is its large ears, and it is the smallest species of canid in the world.

To enable it to stay in the desert, its coat, ears and kidney functions are adapted to high-temperature, low-water and the desert environment. The large ears is sensitive, and is able to detect sounds from prey even if preys moved underground.

This cute-looking fox is a carnivorous mammal with a life-span of 10 years living in the wild. Its predators include African varieties of the eagle owl and caracal. Other predators include jackals, the saluki and striped hyenas. A saluki is a greyhound-like domestic dog in Africa. But Fennec lovers may rest assure that the flurry creature is difficult to capture.

The Fennec Home

The Fennec family lives quite like other Sahara Desert inhabitants. They dig out dens in sand for protection, and may dig areas as large as 1300 square feet. They also live closely with their other families, with dens connected to each other underground. Also, the dens are often sheltered by plants with sand dunes, which is an ideal habitat for this small animal.

At this moment, the Fennec Fox is not in any danger of extinction. However, the lovely Fennec fur is a prized possession of the indigenous peoples of North Africa. In some other places, it is considered an exotic pet. However, it is under the “Least Concern” list on the International Union for the Conservation of Natural and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List. However, the trade of Fennec’s fur still needs to be controlled to avoid any possible threats. While its fur may be attractive, their meat is not eaten by humans because it was said to be foul smelling.

Physical Appearance

Fennec Foxes are small, weighing an average of 1.2kg. It can grow up to 40 cm long and 20 cm tall, with a black-tip tail. The large ears can grow up to 15cm long.

The Fennec fur is a cream color, helping to deflect heat during the day, and the fluffy texture keeps the Fennec warm at night. The large ears too, play an important role to dissipate heat from the Fennec, and it has many blood vessels close to the skin. At the same time, the Fennec’s thick fur protects the sole of its feet from the hot desert sand.