How Long Do Foxes Live? Fox Lifespan in the Wild and Captivity

How long do red foxes live in the wild?

The red fox is the most widespread fox in the world, and it has one of the shortest average lives of any wild carnivore of its size. Large numbers of kits die in their first months, and young foxes face more risk when they leave home in autumn. As a result, the average age of wild red foxes in many populations is only about two to three years.

A fox that makes it through its first year has a better chance of living a few more years. Even so, most adults are gone by the age of five, and only a small number reach seven, eight or more. Rare individuals live to about 10 or slightly beyond, but in most populations a fox of five is already old.

How long do foxes live in captivity?

Foxes kept in zoos, wildlife parks and sanctuaries often live 10–12 years and sometimes up to about 15. They have regular meals, shelter and veterinary care, and they never have to cross a road or avoid a coyote or an eagle. The difference shows that the short wild lifespan is caused by danger, not by a fox’s body wearing out quickly.

What kills wild foxes?

Foxes are hardy and adaptable, but they die from many different causes, and the main one changes from place to place:

• Traffic. In much of Europe and in towns everywhere, cars kill huge numbers of foxes, especially young animals in autumn and adults searching for mates in winter. In many British cities, road accidents are the leading known cause of death.
• People. In many countries foxes are legally hunted, trapped or shot to protect livestock and game birds. Where this is common, few foxes live long.
• Disease. Sarcoptic mange, caused by a tiny burrowing mite, makes foxes lose fur and condition and can wipe out local populations. When mange reached the city of Bristol in England in the mid-1990s, it killed the large majority of the city’s foxes within a few years. Rabies and canine distemper also kill foxes, although rabies has been eliminated from much of western and central Europe.
• Predators. Adult red foxes are killed by coyotes and wolves in North America, by lynx and golden eagles in parts of Europe and Asia, and by dogs. Kits are also taken by eagle owls, badgers and other predators.
• Hunger and cold. Young foxes that cannot find their own territory may starve, especially in a hard winter.

Why do so many young foxes die?

The first year is the most dangerous time in any fox’s life. A red fox litter usually has four to six kits, born blind and helpless in a den in spring. If the mother is killed, disease strikes or food runs short, a whole litter can be lost. To learn more about this stage, see what is a baby fox called?

Danger rises again in autumn and winter, when many young foxes, especially males, leave their parents’ territory to find their own. They travel through unfamiliar country, cross busy roads and stray into the territories of other foxes. In many studies, these dispersing young animals make up a large share of traffic victims.

Foxes make up for these losses by breeding fast. Vixens can have their first litter at about one year old, and where mortality is high, litters tend to be larger. This is why fox populations often recover quickly after a crash.

Do city foxes live longer than country foxes?

Urban foxes have plenty of food, but their lives are not much longer. Studies of town foxes in Britain show that most still die before their third birthday, mainly on the roads. Dense urban populations can also be hit very hard by disease, as the Bristol mange outbreak showed. Read more about how foxes cope with towns in why are there so many foxes in cities?

Country foxes face different risks. In farmland and game-rearing areas, legal killing is often the main cause of death, while in remote areas, larger predators, hunger and harsh winters play a bigger role.

How long do other foxes live?

The Arctic fox lives in one of the harshest places on Earth. Its life is tied to food supply: in years when lemmings are plentiful, foxes raise large litters, while in years when lemming numbers crash, many young foxes starve. Wild Arctic foxes typically live three to four years once they are past their first summer, and a few reach about 11. In captivity they have lived up to about 16 years.

The tiny fennec fox of the Sahara is less studied in the wild, but it is thought to live up to about 10 years there and around 14 in zoos. Gray foxes in North America and other small foxes face similar dangers to red foxes and also rarely live long in the wild.

How do scientists know how old a fox is?

Kits and young foxes can be recognized by size, coat and behavior. In adults, scientists look at tooth wear: older foxes have blunt, worn or broken teeth. The most accurate method for foxes found dead is to count growth layers in the cementum, a hard tissue around the tooth root, which forms one layer per year, much like the rings in a tree trunk.

Long-term studies with tagged or radio-collared foxes, such as those in British towns, have provided many of the reliable figures on fox lifespans.

Fox lifespan compared with wolves

Foxes live shorter lives on average than their larger cousin, the gray wolf, which averages about five to six years in the wild and can pass 13. Both species share the same pattern: a long potential lifespan in captivity, but a short and risky life in the wild. To compare, see how long do wolves live?