Animal Facts

The smallest of the foxes - with the biggest ears - the Fennec is a nocturnal resident of Saharan north Africa. As a desert dweller, the Fennec has had to adapt to both extremes of temperature - searing days, and freezing nights. Its oversized ears help shed body heat, and its thick, pale, silky coat reflects sun by day and insulates by night. Even its feet are thickly furred - not just to keep them warm at night, but to protect them from the hot ground during daylight, and act as "snowshoes" to keep them from sinking in loose sand. They also make terrific shovels for den digging, as, like many of its relatives, and a lot of other desert dwellers, it lives in the cool shelter of underground.

Unlike most other foxes, Fennecs are social, living in groups of ten or so in a communal den. While they prefer a carnivorous diet, they will eat nearly anything they can find - and get most of their moisture from ther diet, needing very little liquid water. The Fennec's soft coat and winsome appearance work against them, sadly - they are eagerly trapped for fur and captured and smuggled for the exotic pet trade.