Tibetan Fox

About this species

Size

Head and body 60–70cm; tail 29–40cm

Weight

4–5.5kg

Diet

Mainly plateau pikas; also rodents, marmots, woolly hares, small ground birds and lizards

Habitat

Upland plains and hills at about 3,500–5,200m

Range

Tibetan Plateau, Ladakh and Sikkim in India, and northern Nepal

Litter size

2–4 young

Gestation

50–60 days

The Tibetan fox is a true fox of the high Tibetan Plateau. It has a soft, dense rufous coat over the crown, neck, back and lower legs, with grey cheeks, flanks, upper legs and rump, a narrow muzzle, short ears and a bushy tail with a white tip. Adults measure 60–70 cm in head and body with a 29–40 cm tail and usually weigh 4–5.5 kg (Wikipedia, general species account).

In India it is restricted to the Ladakh plateau and Sikkim, north of the Himalaya. It lives in upland plains and hills at about 3,500–5,200 m, and is mostly solitary and a daytime hunter, because its main prey, pikas, are active by day. It also takes rodents, marmots, woolly hares, small ground birds and lizards, and it digs burrows at the base of boulders and on low slopes. Two to four young are born after 50–60 days and stay with their parents until eight to ten months old (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)