How active are fennec foxes?

nicholas

nicholas

Well-Known Member
I've never had the opportunity to see a fennec fox enclosure. How active are they in a normal daylight enclosure? From looking at exhibits here on zoochat it seems quite uncommon to have them in nocturnal houses.
 
I visited only two fennec enclosures (Prague and San Diego). In one they was "absent" (hidden in their den) even passing many times by there. In the other, I passed two times, the first one they was also hidden, the second, sleeping in a position that made impossible a decent photography.
 
I've always seen them sleeping or at least resting. They're a popular species, but along with other nocturnal animals kept outside they are not the most exciting to watch.
 
I've seen them twice (on the same day as it happens), the first one a normal light exhibit all three of the were active (although I was feeding them...), the second which wasn't nocturnal as such but had low level lighting, I saw one sat in the corner asleep.
 
It depends.

In Prague, I have seen them only once in last ca 7 years.

In Jihlava, I see them active almost always. Last time, they were working on cubs. It is small enclosure, without possibility to go outside, without reversed day/night light-regime.
 
I've seen Fennecs on countless occasions in a good number of collection - both public and privat. Roughtly I guess that in at least 75 % of the cases the animal(s) were hidding / sleeping and in only 25 % they were active.
 
I don't think fennecs are much worse than most other small carnivores in spending a lot of their time resting, but they may prefer to hide away when they rest, as they would in their desert habitat. I don't think it makes much difference whether they are kept in normal or reversed lighting; but I prefer to see them in daylight because the quality of the viewing is so much better.
 
In La Palmyre I saw a large number of fennec foxes. In think there were 12/14 foxes in three exhibits. Most of them were very active. In other zoos (Colchester, Amnéville, Olmen, La Barben, La Teste-de-Buch), they were a lot less active.
 
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