fbpx

KidsKonnect

Fennec Fox Facts & Worksheets

The Fennec fox is a small desert-dwelling fox that is native to the Sahara Desert and other arid regions of North Africa

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /Science /Animals /Fennec Fox Facts & Worksheets

Premium
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Fennec (Vulpes zerda), also known as Fennec Fox, is a small nocturnal fox found in North Africa, Sinai, and Arabian peninsulas. Its ears help it cool off and listen for underground prey, making them one of its most recognizable characteristics.

See the fact file below for more information on the Fennec Fox, or you can download our 28-page Fennec Fox worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Description

  • Its name is derived from the Arabic word fanak, which means fox, while the species name zerda is derived from the Greek word xeros, which means dry and refers to the fox’s environment.
  • When it comes to canids, the fennec is the tiniest of them all. It has modified its fur, ears, and kidneys to high-temperature, low-water desert conditions. Its hearing is also sensitive enough to detect prey moving underground. Its primary food sources include birds, small animals, and insects.
  • The fennec can live in captivity for up to 14 years. The African eagle owls are its primary predators. Families of fennecs excavate sand burrows for shelter and protection that can be up to 120 square meters and are connected to the holes of other families.
  • The fennec fox’s range spans the entirety of the Sahara, from northern Sudan to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula to Morocco and Mauritania. It lives in small dunes and vast stretches of treeless sand with limited flora such as grasses, sedges, and small bushes.
  • During the day, the fennec fox’s sand-colored fur acts as a solar reflector, but at night, it acts as an insulator.   Its tail tapers to a black tip. Its tail tapers to a black tip. Its long ears feature reddish longitudinal stripes on the back and are so densely covered with hair on the inside that the external auditory meatus cannot be seen. The edges of the ears are white, while the back is darker.

History

  • The Fennec Fox belongs to the “true” fox family. Exactly 12 species can be classified as “genuine foxes,” and an additional 25 species share characteristics with foxes. All are members of the Canidae family and have a common ancestor.
  • In North America, foxes first evolved like other canids. About 8 million years ago, the ancestor of foxes crossed the Bering Strait into Asia and then spread over Asia, Europe, and Africa. The Fennec Fox is a fascinating example of microevolution or anatomical changes that occur within a species. Two primary rules govern the evolution of the Fennec Fox.
  • First, there is Allen’s rule, which argues that animals evolve according to the climate in which they reside, with their extremities adjusting to their surroundings. The Fennec Fox, for instance, developed in one of the warmest places on Earth. Its exceptionally huge ears and other larger extremities help it thermoregulate and stay cool during hot days. In contrast, the Arctic Fox‘s shortened limbs allow it to conserve body heat.

Behavior and Ecology 

  • The fennec fox makes its home in a sand burrow in the open or a protected spot among plants with stable dunes. Dens can be up to 120 square meters with up to 15 separate entrances in compacted soils. In several instances, different families interconnect their dens or situate them nearby. Dens in softer, looser sand are typically smaller, having just one entrance and one room.
  • The majority of the information about fennec fox social behavior comes from captive animals. It is considered that the basic social unit consists of a partner and their offspring and that the children from the previous year remain in the family even when a new litter is born. Adults of this species are not immune to the prevalence of childlike behaviors. Barking, a purring sound like a house cat, and a snarl are just a few of the sounds that fennec foxes produce.
  • Animals in captivity are highly gregarious and often repose close to one another. Around the time of the female estrous cycle, males are more likely to display aggressive behavior and mark their territory with urine. They have been observed burying waste by pushing soil over it using their snout or rear feet. An in-depth study of the species, focusing on its habitat usage and population dynamics in the wild, is long overdue, according to a 2004 report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
  • Fennec foxes behave similarly to lively, playful small dogs. However, even if they were bred in captivity, these are still wild animals with wild instincts. They aren’t usually very affectionate with people as pets, and because they are predatory animals in the wild, they can be wary and easily frightened. Furthermore, fennec foxes are primarily nocturnal, which means they are more active at night.
  • Although fennecs like to live in groups in the wild, they may be relatively autonomous as pets. Fennecs are naturally wary, and they will flee if something frightens them. While most prefer running rather than fighting, they will bite if something genuinely enrages them.

Hunting and Diet

  • The fennec fox has a varied diet and consumes a variety of foods. Plants, rodents, insects, birds, eggs, and rabbits are all food sources. They can jump up to 2 feet high and 4 feet forward, allowing them to seize prey and escape predators. 
  • When hunting, huge-eared foxes like the fennec or bat-eared fox may look at the ground while rotating their heads from side to side to locate the position of prey, which may be buried in the ground.
  • Although there have been accounts of fennec foxes climbing date palms while searching for fruit, some experts believe these stories are improbable unless low branches are present for support.
  • The species can survive without free water because its kidneys are designed to limit water loss. Dew can form as a result of a fennec’s burrowing. They are also known to absorb water through food consumption; nevertheless, if water is accessible, they will drink it.

Reproduction

  • Fennec foxes usually have one litter of pups every year, with two to five young in each litter. Males can become particularly aggressive and mark their territory with urine throughout the four to six weeks of the rutting season. 
  • Females will be in estrus for one to two days after copulation, and the gestation period will last between 50 and 53 days. Males will defend females before and throughout delivery and feed the female until the puppies are about four weeks old. 
  • Young are born furred but blind; their eyes open after eight to eleven days, and they can walk after about two weeks. Puppies typically nurse for the first ten weeks and reach maturity around 9 to 11 months. Fennec foxes in captivity reach sexual maturity at roughly nine months of age and mate between January and April. They usually only reproduce once a year. The copulation tie can last up to two and a half hours. 

Population

  • There are no severe global threats to fennecs at the moment. Roads, buildings and increased human settlements cause more disruption and danger to some groups. Although the Sahara and Sinai residents hunt them for their fur or exhibition and sale to tourists, these foxes pose little harm to human interests such as livestock.
  • The current population size is unknown, although it is thought to be sufficient because Fennec foxes are frequently captured for display or the tourist industry by dealers in Northern Africa. The Fennec fox is classified as “Least Concern” by the ICUN, and its population trend is stable. In their territories, fennecs serve as top predators, limiting the populations of prey species such as birds, small mammals, reptiles, insects, and other invertebrates.

Fennec Fox Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about the Fennec Fox across 28 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about the Fennec Fox, a small desert-dwelling fox that is native to the Sahara Desert and other arid regions of North Africa.

Fennec fox worksheets
Fennec fox worksheets
Fennec fox worksheets

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  • Fennec Fox Facts
  • The Fennec
  • Give Me
  • A Maze-ing
  • Fact Check
  • The Smallest Fox
  • My Features
  • Use It
  • Knowledge Test
  • The Desert Animals
  • What Would You Do?

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Fennec Fox Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 31, 2023

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources