The red fox has been evaluated as “Least Concern” because of its wide geographical range, vast introduction in other regions, adaptability, opportunistic diet, and success in urban areas.
The red fox has been evaluated as Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species because of its wide geographical range, vast introduction in other regions, adaptability, opportunistic diet, and success in urban areas.
The red fox has the widest geographical range of any member of the order Carnivora, being distributed widely across the entire northern hemisphere, and has been introduced elsewhere. Red Foxes are adaptable and opportunistic omnivores and are capable of successfully occupying urban areas. In many habitats, foxes appear to be closely associated with people, even thriving in intensive agricultural areas.
The red fox’s general versatility and eclectic, omnivorous diet are likely to ensure its persistence despite changes in landscape and prey base. Culling may be able to reduce numbers well below carrying capacity in large regions, but no known situations exist where this currently threatens species persistence on any geographical scale.
• Image | © Qijin Xu, Some Rights Reserved, Unsplash
• Sources | (Fox, 2007; Heydon & Reynolds, 2006; Hoffmann & Sillero-Zubiri, 2016; MacDonald & Reynolds, 2005)
