As with many desert predators, Rueppell’s foxes will eat almost anything that crosses their path. They are omnivores, partaking in anything from insects and small mammals to roots. Rueppell’s foxes tend to be mainly insectivores, but will chase and grab anything they can catch and eat.
Animal Foods: mammals; reptiles; eggs; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Plant Foods: roots and tubers
Primary Diet: omnivore
Due to the inhospitable habitat they occupy, Rueppell’s foxes have few predators. Their main predators are aerial predators such as steppe eagles and eagle owls. The fur of these animals is often closely matches the substrate, helping to conceal them from predators. Pups are hidden underground to further prevent predation.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Rueppell’s foxes are small foxes with a predominately sandy-colored coat. A gray color morph also occurs, apparently an adaptation for living in rockier areas. Much of this species' body plan reflects its adaptation to the harsh climate. Like many desert dwelling foxes, Rueppell’s foxes have large, broad ears, and feet with furred pads that protect them from the heated sand.
Vulpes rueppelli is slender and has a long, bushy tail with a white tip. The legs and muzzle are both short. The predominate color is “buff”, which is a sand-like color, but there are white hairs that make up the dense undercoat. Gray markings on the face are quite diagnostic of this fox. Although V. ruepellii is often confused with fennec foxes, fennec foxes are generally smaller than Rueppell’s foxes. Vulpes rueppellii, on average, achieves a body length of 40 to 52 cm with a tail length of 25 to 39 cm. At the shoulder, they reach 30 cm and they weight around 1.2 to 3.6 kg. Males tend to be slightly larger than females, but in other respects, the sexes are monomorphic.
Vulpes rueppelli is slender and has a long, bushy tail with a white tip. The legs and muzzle are both short. The predominate color is “buff”, which is a sand-like color, but there are white hairs that make up the dense undercoat. This fox has gray markings on the face, that help distinguish it from other foxes. Although V. ruepellii is often confused with fennec foxes, fennec foxes are generally smaller than Rueppell’s foxes. Males tend to be slightly larger than females.
Range mass: 1.2 to 3.6 kg.
Range length: 40 to 52 cm.
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Rueppell’s foxes have a lifespan in captivity of approximately 6.5 years to 12 years. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown, but is probably greatly shorter due to pressures such as predation and competition with red foxes. The maximum lifespan of these foxes in the wild has been estimated at approximately 6 years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 6.5 to 12 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 6 years.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 9 (high) years.
Rueppell’s foxes are highly adapted to their desert habitats. They inhabit a wide range of substrates, but are most common in areas with sandy or dry, stony desert substrate. Due to competition with red foxes, Rueppell’s foxes have been pushed to more extreme habitats that red foxes do not dominate.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune
Rueppell’s foxes (Vulpes ruepellii) are widespread. They are found in desert regions of North Africa and the Arabian peninsula, from as far east as Pakistan, to as far northwest as Israel and Jordan. Subspecies are often named based on their geographical distribution.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); ethiopian (Native )
Rueppell’s foxes serve as a population control for both rodents and insects. These pests can be very detrimental to humans considering both are important disease vectors as well as crop destroyers.
Rueppell’s foxes are not hunted often, but may be killed by locals. They are neither sold as pets or hunted for fur. These foxes do kill many pest species that cause millions of dollars in damage to crops.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Rueppell’s foxes are considered pests because they are thought to eat poultry and other domesticated animals. They are also known vectors for the rabies virus. Vulpes vulpes appears to be the much more significant source of rabies however.
Negative Impacts: causes or carries domestic animal disease
Rueppell’s foxes are listed as DD (data deficient) by the IUCN. This species seems to be widespread but rare in its range. The actual population size of this fox is unknown. The main threats to it are habitat destruction and indiscriminate poisoning. Also competition with red foxes is making Rueppell's foxes compete for resources.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
As mentioned before, Rueppell’s foxes spend much of their time scent marking. They have a variety of scent glands, especially toward the anus. Foxes often sniff each other's anal glands in a greeting. This behavior is widespread within the family Canidae. Females mark their dens with their violet glands and are often sniffed by the male as he passes.
The type of communication that most dogs are known for is their ability to make some sort of barking noise. Rueppell’s foxes are no different, but only tend to use their bark or yelp when they are alarmed. When content, a fox tends to exhibit low chattering and long moans.
These animals have a well developed visual ability, and may use some visual communications, such as body postures, to communicate with conspecifics. Because they are social, tactile communication, especially between parents and offspring and between mates, is likely to be important also.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones ; scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Rueppell’s foxes are legendary for their survival skills; they can survive even in the most harsh of conditions. The abilities of this species gave rise to a legend that the fox drinks by keeping its head in the breeze and getting water from the wind.
Like most canids, Rueppell’s foxes form monogamous pairs in the mating season. Little is known about the specific reproductive ecology of Rueppell’s foxes. There have been sightings of family groups, which may indicate the existence of an extended family, as has been observed in species like red foxes. In Oman, breeding pairs patrol a territory and usually den together. Cohabitation of the same den does not occur during the non-breeding season.
The process of attracting mates is not completely understood, but Rueppell’s foxes possess a vast array of scent glands. Male and female canids typically spend a great deal of time scent marking. Males may be able to sense heat through the vomeronasal organ. It is likely that Rueppell’s foxes are similar to other canids in these respects.
Mating System: monogamous
Rueppell’s foxes probably breed in winter, from November to January, considering related species such as fennec foxes and red foxes breed at this time. Females give birth to 2 or 3 helpless pups in March. Pups are blind at birth. The gestation period is thought to be around 50 days, similar to red foxes. Rueppell’s fox pups are thought to be completely weaned at 6 to 8 weeks. Pups are thought to become independent around the age of four months. They reach sexual maturity within the first year.
Breeding interval: Rueppell's foxes breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs from November to January .
Range number of offspring: 2 to 3.
Average number of offspring: 2.
Range gestation period: 50 (low) days.
Average gestation period: 50 days.
Range weaning age: 42 to 56 days.
Average time to independence: 4 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; viviparous
Average number of offspring: 2.
Many specific details on parental investment patterns of Rueppell’s foxes are unknown. However, the parents both serve important roles. In Oman, a female defends the den from her mate, but he remains in the area, never denning more than 200 meters away. A male may bring his mate food, like many other foxes do, or regurgitate food, a common practice in canids. Pups are independent after four months.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Male, Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); post-independence association with parents
Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), also called Rüppell's sand fox, is a fox species living in desert and semi-desert regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008.[2] It is named after the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell.[3]
The sister species of Rüppell's fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). For mitochondrial DNA, Rüppell's fox is nested inside the genetic lineages of the red fox, called paraphyly. This may have been caused by a recent divergence of Rüppell's fox from the red fox lineage, or by incomplete lineage sorting, or introgression of mitochondrial DNA between the two species. Based on fossil record evidence, the last scenario seems most likely, which is further supported by the clear ecological and morphological differences between the two species.[4]
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Rüppell's fox is a small fox, measuring 66 to 74 cm (26 to 29 in) in total length, including a tail measuring 27–30 cm (11–12 in) long. There is no pronounced sexual dimorphism, but males appear slightly larger than females. Both sexes are reported to have an average weight of 1.7 kg (3.7 lb).[5] Their coat is sandy with some brown, ticked with numerous white hairs, and fading from reddish along the middle of the back to pure white on the animal's underparts and on the tip of its tail. The flanks are also paler. The head has a more rusty tone on the muzzle and forehead, with dark brown patches on the sides of the muzzle, stretching up towards the eyes. The chin and the sides of the face are white. The whiskers are long, reaching 7 cm (2.8 in).[5]
Its relatively small legs are beige in color, with individual black hairs that turn lighter to white towards the legs. The soles are heavily coated with fur that fully covers the pads, an adaptation to extremes of temperature in the desert,[6] that probably helps to distribute its weight and move easily on sand. The back has a black speckling, resulting in a thick black patch at the base of the tail, which is bushy with a white tip. The fur is very soft and fluffy in two coats, a heavier denser winter coat and a thinner summer coat.[7] The females have three pairs of mammae.[8]
Similar to other desert-dwelling foxes, Rüppell's fox has large ears to cool it off. Although adults are too large to confuse with fennec foxes, which live in the same area, young Rüppell's foxes can be confused with adults of that species. The larger ears, however, make them easy to distinguish from red and pale foxes, which also live in some of the same areas. In addition, the coat of a Rüppell's fox is much paler than that of a red fox, while pale foxes lack the white tips on their tails.[5]
Rüppell's fox has 2n = 40 chromosomes.[7]
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Rüppell's fox is found in the deserts of North Africa south of the Atlas Mountains, from Mauritania and Morocco in the west to Egypt and Djibouti in the east. The species is also found in Algeria, central Niger, Libya, northern Chad, Egypt, southern Sudan, the arid lowlands of Ethiopia and northern Somalia.[5] It is common in Arabia, except on the coast of the Red Sea and in the mountainous outskirts. It is also found in the Arabian Peninsula southwards from Syria, Israel, Jordan and Iraq, and as far east as Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Within this region, it prefers sandy or rocky deserts, but may also be found in semiarid steppes and sparse scrub.[2]
It is assumed that the distribution areas have changed historically with desertification and are mainly limited by competition with the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and by human settlements.[2] In 2007, an expansion of the occurrence of foxes in the United Arab Emirates was documented through the first sighting of the species in Al Dhafra in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.[9] It seems to avoid the extreme arid regions in the middle of the Sahara, being more abundant on the fringes, in mountain massifs and near oases.[7] Annual rainfall in the region of distribution of the species is normally between 100 and a maximum of 240 mm per year, mostly on the northern edge of the Sahara with a maximum of 150 mm per year.[10]
In Tunisia, the Rüppell's fox occurs in the Saharan habitat in Jebil National Park and possibly farther to the south-west.[11]
Rüppell's foxes are monogamous and either crepuscular or nocturnal. They usually spend the day resting in their underground dens, but in winter they are occasionally active during the day.[10] In Tunisia's Jebil National Park, recent research has shown a prodominently nocturnal activity pattern with very rare crepuscular observations preceding sunrise.[11]
They use two different types of burrows, which are strictly separated: the breeding dens and the resting dens.[5] Outside of the breeding season, these are small dens that can hold only one adult fox, and the fox changes dens frequently, on average about every 4.7 days.[12] Breeding dens are larger, and occupied by a pair of adults and their kits. Such dens can sometimes have more than one entrance, although this is unusual.[13] They make a series of short barks during mating and, at other times, can also produce hisses, trills, and sharp whistles. They have been reported to wag their tails, like domestic dogs.[5]
Rüppell's foxes occupy distinct territories, which they mark with urine, but not with dung as red foxes do. The territories of the members of a mated pair overlap almost completely, but are entirely separate from those of any neighboring pairs. These territories are maintained throughout the year, although the pair occupy separate dens outside of the mating season. The size of the territories varies with the local terrain, but has been reported as around 70 km2 (27 sq mi) in Oman, with those of males being larger, on average, than those of females.[13] The foxes range widely during their nocturnal foraging, travelling over 9 km (5.6 mi) in a night.[5]
Its only natural predators are the steppe eagle and the eagle-owl.[5]
Rüppell's foxes are omnivores, with a diet that varies considerably depending on what is locally available.[6] In some regions, they are reported to be mainly insectivorous, especially feeding on beetles and orthopterans, while in others, small mammals, lizards, and birds form a larger part of their diet. Plants eaten include grasses and desert succulents, along with fruits such as dates, and they have also been known to scavenge from human garbage.[5][13]
Mating occurs in November, a few weeks after the female has prepared her breeding den. Litters up to six kits, although more usually just two or three, are born after a gestation period around 52–53 days. The young are born blind.[5] They reach independence at about four months, when they may travel up to 48 km (30 mi) in search of a suitable territory. They can live an average of seven years in the wild, but have been reported to live up to 12 years in captivity.[5]
Although some authors consider Rüppell's fox to be monotypic, others list up to five subspecies:[1]
The Libyan General Posts and Telecommunications Company (GPTC), in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature, dedicated a postal stamp issue to Rüppell's fox on May 1, 2008. The issue is made of a set of four stamps printed in minisheets of two sets. The issue was completed with a special first day of issue cover having a special postmark.[14]
Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), also called Rüppell's sand fox, is a fox species living in desert and semi-desert regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. It is named after the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell.
