# Red Fox — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Vulpes vulpes*

> The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the world's most widely distributed wild carnivore, living across the Northern Hemisphere; the IUCN lists it as Least Concern with a stable population.

**IUCN status:** Least Concern (IUCN, 2016) — population stable  ·  **WARN range:** Northern Hemisphere

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Lifespan | 2–5 years in the wild (longer in captivity) |
| Weight | 2.2–14 kg (4.9–31 lb); males larger than females |
| Size | Body 45–90 cm, plus a 30–55 cm tail |
| Diet | Omnivore — rodents, rabbits, birds, insects, fruit, scraps |
| Gestation | Approximately 49–58 days |
| Young per litter | 3–6 cubs on average |
| Baby name | Cub or kit |
| Group name | A skulk, leash or earth of foxes |
| Top speed | Around 50 km/h (31 mph) |
| CITES | Not listed on the CITES appendices |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Mammalia
- **Order:** Carnivora
- **Family:** Canidae
- **Genus:** Vulpes
- **Species:** Vulpes vulpes

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Least Concern
- **Population:** Not quantified globally; abundant and widespread across the Northern Hemisphere
- **Trend:** Stable
- **Assessed:** 2016
- **CITES:** Not listed on the CITES appendices
- Assessed as Least Concern because it has the widest range of any carnivore and is highly adaptable. Conservation focus is on animal welfare — the fur trade, snaring and culling — rather than extinction risk.

## Key facts: Red Fox
- The red fox has the widest natural range of any carnivore, spanning most of the Northern Hemisphere across North America, Europe, Asia and North Africa.
- It is an opportunistic omnivore, eating rodents, rabbits, birds, insects, fruit and human food scraps.
- Highly adaptable, it readily colonises farmland, suburbs and dense urban areas.
- The IUCN classifies the red fox as Least Concern with a stable global population (2016 assessment).
- It is not listed on the CITES appendices, but is heavily exploited for fur and routinely culled in many regions.
- Welfare concerns centre on the fur trade, snaring, poisoning and lethal control rather than extinction risk.

## Range and habitat
The red fox occupies an enormous range across the Northern Hemisphere, from Arctic and boreal zones through temperate Europe and Asia to the fringes of North Africa, and it has also been introduced to Australia, where it is now an invasive predator. No other member of the order Carnivora is so widely distributed. Its success comes from extreme habitat flexibility: red foxes live in forests, grasslands, mountains, wetlands, farmland and increasingly in towns and cities. Urban foxes den under sheds and in parks, adjusting their diet and behaviour to human surroundings while keeping the territorial habits of their rural cousins.

## Diet and behaviour
Red foxes are opportunistic omnivores. Their core diet is small rodents such as voles and mice, supplemented by rabbits, ground-nesting birds, reptiles, earthworms, beetles and seasonal fruit. In built-up areas they readily scavenge discarded food. Foxes hunt mostly at dawn, dusk and night, using sharp hearing to locate prey before the characteristic high pounce. They cache surplus food, burying it to recover later. Largely solitary when foraging, they communicate through a wide range of calls and scent marks, and family groups may share and defend a territory.

## Reproduction and life cycle
Red foxes typically breed once a year, with mating in late winter and a gestation of roughly 49–58 days. A vixen gives birth to an average of three to six cubs (also called kits) in an underground den. The cubs are born blind and rely on the mother, while the male and sometimes other group members help provision food. Young foxes are weaned at around a month and begin to disperse in autumn to establish their own territories. In the wild most foxes live only a few years because of road traffic, disease and human control, though individuals can reach a greater age in safer conditions.

## Welfare, the fur trade and human conflict
Because the red fox is abundant, conservation attention focuses less on extinction risk and more on animal welfare. Millions of foxes are killed each year for fur, both trapped in the wild and raised on fur farms, and many regions carry out lethal control through shooting, snaring and poisoning over concerns about livestock and game. These practices raise significant welfare questions about suffering, indiscriminate trapping and non-target species. Coexistence measures — secure poultry housing, humane deterrents and reduced food waste — can ease conflict in both rural and urban settings without resorting to culling.

## Red fox compared with other common foxes
| Species | Scientific name | Main range | IUCN status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Red fox | Vulpes vulpes | Northern Hemisphere (widest of any carnivore) | Least Concern |
| Arctic fox | Vulpes lagopus | Arctic tundra | Least Concern |
| Fennec fox | Vulpes zerda | Sahara and North African deserts | Least Concern |
| Grey fox | Urocyon cinereoargenteus | North and Central America | Least Concern |

## What WARN does
The red fox lives across the Northern Hemisphere and falls outside the five countries where the World Animal Rescue Network currently funds frontline work — Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Colombia. WARN does not fund red fox rescue or field projects, and at this launch stage we are honest about that limited scope. This guide is educational, search-focused content created to build global awareness of wildlife and to support WARN's broader mission: protecting habitats and tackling the wildlife and fur trade that harm animals everywhere. By raising the profile of an adaptable, widely exploited species like the red fox, we hope to deepen public understanding of the welfare issues — fur farming, snaring and culling — that connect to the conservation causes WARN is working to grow.

The red fox is thriving, but countless wild animals are not. Your gift to the World Animal Rescue Network supports habitat protection and the fight against the wildlife and fur trade — helping the species and places that need it most.

## Frequently asked questions: Red Fox
### Is the red fox endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List classifies the red fox as Least Concern, with a stable global population. It is the most widely distributed wild carnivore in the world and is not considered at risk of extinction.

### Where do red foxes live?
Red foxes live across most of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America, Europe, Asia and parts of North Africa. They have also been introduced to Australia. They thrive in forests, farmland, mountains and increasingly in towns and cities.

### What do red foxes eat?
Red foxes are omnivores. They mainly hunt small rodents such as mice and voles, but also eat rabbits, birds, reptiles, insects, earthworms and fruit. Urban foxes often scavenge food scraps left by people.

### How fast can a red fox run?
A red fox can reach a top running speed of around 50 km/h (about 31 mph) in short bursts, which helps it chase prey and escape danger.

### What is a baby fox called?
A baby red fox is called a cub or a kit. A female fox is a vixen, and males are sometimes called tods or dogs. A litter usually contains three to six cubs.

### Are red foxes protected by CITES?
The red fox is not listed on the CITES appendices because it is abundant and widespread. However, it is heavily exploited for fur and is often culled, which raises animal-welfare rather than extinction concerns.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List — Vulpes vulpes (Red Fox)](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/23062/193903628)
- [Wikipedia — Red fox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fox)
- [National Geographic — Red Fox](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/red-fox)
- [CITES — Checklist of CITES Species](https://checklist.cites.org/)
- [NHPBS NatureWorks — Red Fox](https://natureworks.nhpbs.org/animals/red-fox/)

---
Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/fox