(Due to the lack of information on the subspecies belonging to the Pale Fox it has not been possible to make specific pages for each subspecies. We hope to have more information in the future to give them the representation they deserve!)

THE PALE FOX

The pale fox (Vulpes pallida) is a species of fox found in the band of African Sahel from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east. It is one of the least studied of all canid species, in part due to its remote habitat and its sandy coat that blends in well with the desert-like terrain.

The pale fox is a small fox, with a long body and relatively short legs and an narrow muzzle. The fur is quite thin, with a pale sandy colour that turns white towards the abdomen. The back is often speckled with a blackish or a rufous colouration, with a darker mid-dorsal line. The flanks are paler than the dorsal pelage, blending into buffy-white underparts, and the legs are rufous. It has a pale face, an elongated muzzle with relatively long whiskers, and a dark ring surrounding the eye.

Its tail is long and bushy, with a reddish brown color with a prominent black tip and a dark patch above the tail gland. The skull is small with a relatively short maxillary region and small sharp canine teeth. The ears are large compared to other foxes but is typical of a desert inhabiting canid. There is no sexual dimorphism in this species.

About the species

Reproduction and behavior

Gestation: 51-53 days.
Young per birth: 3-6.
Weaning: 42-56 days.
Life span: 4 years, up to 16 in captivity.
Breeding season: From April to June, before the rainy season.

Young are born in self-dug burrows. Social behavior: Pairs or small groups with 3 adults (1 female and 2 males). The pale fox is able to relocate southwards and northwards in relation to the periodic droughts that affect the regions they inhabit.

The pale fox typically inhabits stony deserts and semi-deserts although it occasionally ventures south into the savanna. The pale foxes are primarily nocturnal. They are gregarious, living in shared burrows, probably in small family groups with parents and their young. During the day they rest in dug burrows that can extend up to 15 meters long and descend up to 2 meters to the ground, at dusk they venture out and forage for food, which includes plants and berries as well as rodents, reptiles and insects. It has the ability to retain water from its food, and can go almost completely without drinking.

Diet and interaction with the environment

Their diet consists in insects and fruits, but may also prey on small mammals (rodents), reptiles, ground-nesting birds and their eggs; they may also prey on domestic fowl. They are unable to tolerate totally waterless conditions, although they can survive dry seasons, presumably on the residual moisture in their prey.

Main predators: Eagles, owls. Since the pale fox is one of the least known Canids, little is known about its movements and home ranges. Predominantly nocturnal, it is active from dusk until dawn, resting during the day in self-dug burrows. The burrows are large, with tunnels extending 10-15m and opening into small chambers lined with dry vegetable material. Fecal latrines are located just outside these burrows. Mated pairs are territorial, with home ranges of between 3 and 10 km2 in Niger.

Habitat:

They are native to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Suda and Sudan. Found in the semi-arid Sahel of Africa, bordering the Sahara to the North. The southern limit of its range extends into the Northern Guinean savanna zones. It ranges from Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia through Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad to the Red Sea. The actual presence in Guinea (northern part) is unknown.

Their habitat consists in dry, sandy and stony marginal sub-Saharan desert and semi-desert areas, but it may also inhabit moister savanna areas, and areas near human habitation and cultivated fields.

Conservation status: Least Concern. Estimated population of 100,000, being one of the least known canids, but it seems relatively widespread in the ecological band between the true desert of the Sahara and the sub-Saharan savannas. No major threats are known, although they may be persecuted locally since they are known to kill domestic fowl.

Physiognomic information:

Body length: 41-47cm (♂), 42-47 cm (♀).
Tail length: 18-22 cm
Height: 25 cm
Weight: from 1.2 kg (♂), 1.2 kg (♀), to between 2.0kg or 3.6kg depending on the subspecies.

Taxonomy:

Five subspecies are recognized: Vulpes pallida pallida (Kordofan Pale Fox, includes sabbar, found in Kordofan in Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia); Vulpes pallida oertzeni (South Sahel Pale Fox, found in North Cameroon, Chad, Northeastern Nigeria, and Darfur in Sudan); Vulpes pallida harterti (Nigerian Pale Fox, found in Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger and Northern Nigeria); Vulpes pallida edwardsi (Edward’s Pale Fox, found in Mali, Southern Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia) and Vulpes pallida cyrenaica (found in Southeastern Lybia, Northwestern Sudan and mainly in Chad). There is insufficient data available to assess the validity of these subspecies, and variation may be clinal.

Similar species includes the North African Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), sympatric only in Northern Sudan, is larger, with shorter legs and ears dark backed and more pointed; the Fennec Fox (Vulpes zerda), sympatric in northern parts of the range, is smaller, with proportionately longer ears and the Rüppell’s Fox (Vulpes rueppellii) has larger ears, and its tail is usually white tipped.

Here the taxonomic tree of the five subspecies: