INDIAN FOX

                   

                     

                       STATUS

IUCN                   :  LC

CAMP                 :  LRnt                     

ZSI                      :  IK

CITES                 :  Appendices

Schedule           :   I (Part I) 

Population       :   In thousands

Activity             :  Nocturnal

Social Group    :  Pack

👉Local name     :   Lonkadi

👉Physical measurements & life cycle : 👇

Length             :  80 cm

Height             :  80 cm

Weight           :  3 - 5 kg

Maturity        :  12 months

Gestation       :  50 days

Litter size      :  4 

Life span       :  winter

👉Look   :  Brownish-grey coat, hairy tail with dark maroon-black tip and slender limbs.

👉Food  :  Omnivorous. Preys on small birds, eggs, snakes, rats, white ant, fruits and shoots.

👉Distribution  :   Throughout Gujarat. 

👉Habitat  :  In habits dry open forest areas, grasslands, ravines, countryside, wasteland etc. 

👉Behaviour  :  It is usually seen in pairs. It is more crepuscular than nocturnal. Lives in burrows with multiple openings and a central chamber. 

👉Signs of presence  :  Burrows and repeated barking-like sharp yelp

👉Indian fox prefers to inhabit open areas and therefore it rarely occurs in dense forest. It is a pretty animal that prefers small mammals, reptiles and insects over birds. It should be considered to be a friend of farmers because rats and land crabs constitute its preferred food. It is very much attracted by flights of termites or white ants that are common before the onset of the rains. It either gobbles up the insects as they emerge from the termite mounds or snap at them as they fly past. It is an agile mammal in its movement and if chased, it flees with awesome twisting and turnings.