Famelic fox

		Famelic fox
		He is a wild animal


Origin			Africa and Asia
Translation			Francis Vandersteen
This breed is also known as			Rüppell's fox

The possession of this animal is not authorized

The Famelic fox (Vulpes rueppellii), or Rüppell fox, is a canid species that lives in arid regions.

The Famelic fox is lighter in conformation than the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), with shorter legs. Ears are very long and broad, with no black markings on the underside. Females have three pairs of teats.

The coat is fine and soft. The winter coat is thicker and darker than the summer coat. The head is beige to light sand, and the ears and face are paler than the rest of the body. A darker zone runs from the inner corner of the eyes to the sides of the muzzle. The back is light sandy to grayish, sometimes reddish, with more or less pronounced silver highlights due to the black speckling of the fur. The base of the tail is distinctly blacker than the rest of the body. The tip of the tail is white. The flanks and underside of the body are lighter. Legs are beige to fawn. The pads are covered with hair.

The Famelic fox has twenty pairs of chromosomes.

The skull resembles that of the Striped Jackal (Canis adustus). The skull is smaller, however, with a less-developed occipital crest. The cranial cavity is rounded, the post-orbital processes are blunt and narrow, and the zygomatic arch is strong with rather large bullae, though not as developed as those of the Fennec (Vulpes zerda).

They range in size from 40 to 52 cm, weigh 1.7 kg and have excellent hearing thanks to their large ears. The female has a gestation period of 51 to 53 days and gives birth to 2 or 3 young.

The Famelic fox is found from Iran to Mauritania, as well as in the Qattara depression in Egypt.