Vulpes velox
swift fox

Swift foxes originally ranged from the plains of western Canada and across the Great Plains of North America to Texas. Swift foxes disappeared entirely from Canada in the 1930s, but have been reintroduced there. At present there are a few scattered populations of swift foxes in the Great Plains of the U.S. and in western Canada. The largest population is in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Wyoming, where the species is stable. There are currently approximately only 350 individuals located in Southeast Alberta and Southwest Saskatchewan.

Swift foxes live primarily in shortgrass prairies and deserts. They often form their dens in sandy soils on open prairies, along fences or in plowed fields.

The swift fox is the smallest of the wild dogs in North America. Adults weigh between 2 and 3 kilograms and are approximately 30 cm tall and 80 cm long. They are about the size of a domestic cat. Males and females look similar except that males are slightly larger. The fur of V. velox is light grey with orange-tan coloring on the sides and legs. The throat, chest, underside and inside of the ears are creamy white. The tail is bushy and marked with black at the tip. There are also black patches on either side of the snout.

Swift foxes usually live between 3 and 6 years in the wild, but may live up to 14 years in captivity.

The swift fox is indeed rather swift, reaching speeds of over 50 km/h. Their speed helps them catch food and avoid predators. Swift foxes also avoid predators by seeking shelter in burrows. Their dens are burrows underground, usually 2-4 meters in length with 4 entrances. Vulpes velox is mainly a nocturnal species. Daytime activities are confined to dens and vary seasonally. In winter, foxes may sun bathe during the warm midday period, while in summer they only spend early evenings and nighttime above ground.

The diet of the swift fox varies seasonally, depending on what is available. It typically eats whatever live prey it can catch. Its diet includes small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, but also includes berries and grasses.

The cost of captive breeding programs and monitoring after reintroduction can often be high.

In the past, the fur of the swift fox was a valued commodity.

The swift fox is a severely endangered species. It has faced habitat losses due to agricultural, industrial and urban development. Hundreds of swift foxes were killed accidentally during the early 1930s from predator control programs aimed at removing wolves, coyotes, and ground squirrels from prairies. In 1978, the species was declared extirpated in Canada. There are currently populations of swift foxes in the U.S. ranging from South Dakota to Texas. However, the population is stable only in the central part of the range. Reintroduction programs in Western Canada have established small populations in southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan, totaling 350 foxes. The current goal of reintroduction programs in Canada is to establish a viable, self-sustaining population distributed across the prairies and to remove the species from the endangered category by the year 2000.

Several things can be done to try to prevent further loss of and to encourage repopulation of swift foxes. Preserving the habitats of the foxes is crucial. Also, captive breeding could help increase the number of swift foxes. Reintroduction programs, like the ones in western Canada, may also be successful in restoring the swift fox to its natural habitat. However, a large number of reintroduced individuals do not survive their first year in the wild for one reason or another. Therefore, populations must be monitored and protected from human harm. Even though it is illegal to kill swift foxes, they are sometimes mistaken as coyotes and killed.

There is ongoing controversy over whether swift foxes should be divided into two separate species, swift foxes (Vulpes velox) and kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis). Protein electrophoresis data and morphometric analyses have suggested that the species Vulpes velox contains both swift foxes (Vulpes velox velox) and kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) (Ewer 1973; Clutton-Brock et al. 1976; Dragoo et al. 1990; Wozencraft 1993). However, other morphometric analyses (Stromberg and Boyce 1986) and analyses based on mitochondrial DNA (Mercure et al. 1993) have suggested that swift foxes and kit foxes are indeed distinct species. In fact, the study by Mercure et al. (1993) demostrated that swift foxes and kit foxes are as closely related to Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) as they are to one another. In any case, swift foxes and kit foxes are ecologically and morphologically similar taxonomic groups. The former is distributed to the east of the Rocky Mountains, and the latter is distributed to the west. There is a narrow hybrid zone between the two populations in eastern New Mexico and western Texas (Mercure et al. 1993). (Clutton-Brock, Corbert, and Hills, 1976; Dragoo et al., 1990; Ewer, 1973; List and Cypher, 2004; Mercure et al., 1993; Moehrenschlager and Sovada, 2004; Stromberg and Boyce, 1986; Wozencraft, 1993)