Arabian Red Fox

Widespread, and certainly not endangered in the region is the Arabian red fox (Vulpes vulpes arabica ). Highly adaptable, it inhabits virtually every environment and lives in the cities along the coast, the desert and the mountains. However, it does not seem to penetrate areas such as the Liwa with soft sand and high dunes. An omnivorous animal it will eat almost anything, from dead fish on the beach, to dates, carrion and of course small mammals and birds, which it actively hunts during the night. The cubs, numbering up to six per litter, are raised in a burrow that the vixen excavates herself and often uses year after year. They are born in early spring, fully furred but blind and their eyes open after about 10 days. At the age of four weeks they start taking solid food and this is also the time when they begin exploring the surroundings of their burrow. Soon after this they follow the vixen on short hunting trips. As they lack the long dense fur of the European fox they appear to have thin bodies and long legs, but proportionally they are the same, with the exception of their ears. These are larger and have thousands of tiny blood vessels that help the fox to maintain its body temperature. Reddish to sandy-brown, their colour has adapted to the environment in which they are living.