Fennec Fox (Vulpes zerda): Facts, Big Ears and Desert Life

What does a fennec fox look like?

A fennec fox looks almost like a cartoon fox: a tiny, delicate body, a small pointed face with large dark eyes, and enormous upright ears. The thick, soft coat is cream to pale sandy or light reddish brown on the back and white on the underside, matching the color of desert sand.

The bushy tail has a dark tip, and there is a dark patch near its base over a scent gland. Dark streaks run from the inner corners of the eyes down the sides of the slender muzzle. The ears are pale on the edges and thickly furred inside, which helps keep out sand.

The soles of its feet are covered with dense fur. This protects the pads from burning hot sand by day and cold ground at night, and also gives better grip on loose dunes. Like other foxes, the fennec is a member of the dog family, Canidae, but its relatively large eyes, short muzzle and huge ears make it look different from most of its relatives.

How big is a fennec fox?

The fennec fox is the smallest fox and the smallest canid. Females are a little smaller than males.

That makes an adult fennec lighter than most domestic cats. By contrast, the red fox, the largest true fox, can weigh up to around 14 kg (31 lb). Our article on the smallest fox in the world compares the fennec with other tiny foxes such as the kit fox and Blanford’s fox.

Why does the fennec fox have such big ears?

The fennec’s ears do two big jobs. First, they work like radiators. Blood flows through a network of vessels in the thin ear skin, and heat escapes into the air, helping the fox lose body heat in the desert. Second, the large ears collect faint sounds, so the fox can hear insects and small animals moving on or under the sand at night.

Relative to its body size, the fennec has the largest ears of any canid. Read the full explanation in Why do fennec foxes have big ears?

Classification and relatives

The fennec was once placed in its own genus, Fennecus, because of its unusual skull, large ears and small size. DNA studies now place it in Vulpes, the genus of true foxes that also includes the red fox and the Arctic fox. Its closest living relative appears to be Blanford’s fox, a small, big-eared fox of rocky hills in the Middle East and southwest Asia.

The fennec belongs to a loose group of desert-living foxes, including the pale fox, Rüppell’s fox and the kit fox of North America, that independently share pale coats, large ears and water-saving kidneys. The name fennec comes from the Arabic word fanak, meaning fox.

Habitat and range

Fennec foxes live across the Sahara and nearby parts of North Africa, from Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania in the west, through Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Chad and northern Sudan, to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula in the east. They prefer sandy desert with small dunes and scattered grasses, sedges and low shrubs, where the sand is firm enough for digging.

They live in some of the hottest and driest places on Earth, where daytime summer temperatures can climb well above 40 °C (104 °F) while nights can be cold. See Where do fennec foxes live? for more on their desert home.

Burrows and nocturnal life

The fennec fox avoids the worst of the desert heat by being mainly nocturnal. During the day it rests in a burrow dug into the sand, where temperatures are much cooler and the air is more humid than at the surface. It is a strong digger, and a fox can dig into sand remarkably fast.

Burrows vary with the ground. In soft sand a den may be a simple tunnel leading to a single chamber. In firmer sand, burrow systems can cover up to about 120 square meters (1,300 sq ft), with as many as 15 entrances, and the dens of different families are sometimes joined together or built close to each other.

What does a fennec fox eat?

Fennec foxes are omnivores and opportunists. They eat insects such as beetles and locusts, small rodents such as gerbils and jerboas, lizards such as geckos and skinks, small birds and their eggs, and plant food including fruit, leaves and roots. In some oases they also eat dates.

A fennec usually hunts alone at night, listening carefully and then digging rapidly in the sand to reach prey. It sometimes buries extra food to eat later.

How do fennec foxes survive without water?

The Sahara has very little surface water, so the fennec fox gets most of its moisture from its food. Insects, small animals, fruit and juicy plants all contain water. Its kidneys are adapted to make very concentrated urine, which saves water, and staying in a cool burrow during the day reduces the amount of water lost through panting. Fennecs do drink when water is available, but they can go for long periods without it.

Family life and reproduction

Fennec foxes are social and appear to form pairs that stay together, often for life. They live in family groups made up of a breeding pair and their young, sometimes with offspring from the previous year. Fennecs make a range of sounds, including barks, yaps, squeaks, whimpers and purr-like calls. Much of what is known about their social life comes from zoo animals, because wild fennecs are shy, nocturnal and hard to follow in the dunes. Young fennecs are very playful, chasing and wrestling with each other near the den entrance, which helps them develop the speed and agility they will need as adults. Pairs also mark their area with urine and droppings.

Mating usually takes place from about January to April. After a pregnancy of about 50–52 days, the female gives birth in the burrow to a litter of usually two to four pups, sometimes one to five or more. The pups are born helpless, with their eyes closed, and open them after about 8–11 days. The male guards the den and brings food to the female while she is nursing. Pups are weaned at about two to three months old and stay with their parents for several months.

Lifespan, predators and threats

Fennec foxes are thought to live up to about 10 years in the wild, although wild lifespans are poorly known. In zoos they can live to around 14 years.

Their main natural predators are probably large owls, especially the Pharaoh eagle-owl, which takes pups. Jackals and striped hyenas are reported to prey on fennecs occasionally, but adults are very alert and fast, quickly changing direction or diving into a burrow. Desert nomads have reported that fennecs dodge so nimbly that even fast hunting dogs rarely catch them.

People are a bigger concern in some areas. Fennec foxes are trapped to be sold as pets or shown to tourists in parts of North Africa, and in southern Morocco they have disappeared from areas where permanent settlements have expanded. Road building, mining and oil and gas development can also affect them locally.

Conservation status

The IUCN Red List classes the fennec fox as Least Concern (assessed in 2015). There are no reliable population estimates, but the species is widespread and still regularly seen across the Sahara. International trade is regulated under CITES Appendix II, and the fennec is legally protected in several countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.

Myths and facts

“Fennec foxes never drink.” Not quite. They can survive for long periods without drinking because they get water from food, but wild fennecs do drink when they find water.

“The fennec is a separate kind of animal, not a real fox.” It is a true fox. Genetic studies show it belongs in the same genus as the red fox, even though it looks very different.

“The ears are only for hearing.” Hearing is only part of the story. The thin, blood-rich ears also release body heat, which is just as important in the Sahara.

Fennec foxes and people

The fennec fox is the national animal of Algeria, and the Algerian national football team is nicknamed Les Fennecs. The species also appears in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1943 novella The Little Prince, which is set partly in the Sahara. The fennec is one of many desert animals with remarkable adaptations to heat and drought, and its oversized ears have made it one of the most recognizable animals in the world.