Pale Fox |
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He is a wild animal |
Origin |
Central Africa | |
Translation |
Francis Vandersteen |
The possession of this animal is not authorized Royal Decree establishing the list of mammals not kept for production purposes that may be kept (M.B. 24.08.2009) |
The Pale Fox (Vulpes pallida) is a species of fox that lives between Senegal and Sudan, passing through Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger. It is one of the most secretive of all fox species. The head and body measure between 40.6 and 45.5 cm, while the long, bushy tail is 27.0 to 28.6 cm long. The Pale Fox weighs between 1.5 and 3.6 kg. The upper parts of the body are pale sandy-beige, speckled with blackish hairs. The flanks are paler and the inner parts of the body are white. The Pale Fox is a savannah dweller. It digs large burrows: the tunnels are ten to fifteen meters long and open onto chambers lined with dried vegetation. It is an essentially nocturnal and gregarious fox: two males and a female were observed living amicably in captivity in 1965, and the female gave birth to a litter of four cubs during the month of June. Diet consists of small mammals such as rodents, eggs, reptiles, birds and plants. The development of the molars suggests that plants, such as berries or wild melons, form a large proportion of the diet. |