Fennec fox in Algeria
I spent a part of my youth in North Africa, and occasionally someone would have a pet Fennec fox they had acquired from someone in the market.
I never knew how they were caught, but know I do.
The Fennec only weighs about 3 pounds, and it lives on a diet of beetles and scorpions, with the occasional mouse, plant root, or stray bit of carrion tossed in to the mix.
There is some confusion as to whether a Fennec is a true Vulpes fox, or if it should be given its own genus, Fennecus. The animals do not appear to be too closely related to other Vulpes; they have a different number of chromosomes (32 versus 32-25 for true fox), and also lack scent glands.
I never thought Fennecs made good pets, as they tend to sleep all day and all the ones I ever saw (wild-caught, no doubt) were very nervous and jumpy. I suppose there was a reason they were rare in the market. Who wanted to buy a live wild animal that could not be eaten and that was clearly miserable in captivity? Not many!
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2 comments:
If someone did the Belyaev fox farm experiment with these, they would be really interesting if they started to develop the floppy ears.
These things have been bred for several generations in captivity, but I don't think anyone has figured out how to select for tameness in them.
Most modern taxonomists have them as a vulpine fox.
Interestingly, the Arctic fox is still considered in its own genus Alopex. However, it has the same number of chromosomes as the kit and swift foxes, which are vulpine foxes and probably its closest relatives. On fur farms, the "blue" Arctic foxes, which are the fur farm's favored coloration, have been crossed with silver foxes to produce sterile hybrids.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119853351/abstracAlopex.t?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
Whatever the classification of Arctic and fennec foxes, they are very closely related to the vulpine fox family, if not full members. The gray and island foxes aren't that closely related to them, and the South American "false foxes" or, as they are now known, "wolf foxes" (Lycalopex) are more closely related to the genera Canis, Lycaon, and Cuon.
I guess there isn't a shortage of water in the North African desert then.
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