Box 2: Ecology of the red fox
Distribution and conservation status: The red fox has the largest geographical range of all members of the order Carnivora. It is widespread throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to southern North America, Europe, North Africa, the Asian steppes, India and Japan. Introduced populations also persist in Australia where they have caused significant damage to native ecosystems. The species is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (Hoffmann & Sillero-Zubiri 2021).
Ecology: Red foxes can be found in habitats as diverse as tundra, deserts, mountains (up to 4,500 m), forests, and urban areas. Foxes are opportunistic omnivores and scavengers with highly plastic diets that vary according to the availability of food resources. Their diet may consist of mammals (voles, rabbits, young hares, or lambs), ground-nesting birds, poultry, invertebrates, fruit, and food waste, to varying degrees. Females become sexually mature around 10 months old and generally give birth to a litter of 4-6 young per year. Red fox densities vary widely, from as low as 0.02 ind/km² in rural areas (Meia 1994), up to 30 ind/km² in urban areas where there is an oversupply of food (Harris & Rayner 1986). It can be solitary at low densities but also forms social groups (Macdonald 1981).
Main threats and management actions: Threats to this species from humans include habitat degradation, loss and fragmentation in certain areas, exploitation, and persecution (Hoffmann & Sillero-Zubiri 2021). Hunting and trapping are widespread in most areas, with large kill bags. Hunting is mostly seen as sport, while trapping and regulatory shooting aim to reduce population size and depredation, but there is increasing debate about whether fox control is achieving its goals. While no longer considered a concern, red fox have historically been impacted by vulpine rabies epidemics.