Skip to content
WAnimals
  • Map
  • Species
  • Parks
  • Diving
Log inCreate account
WAnimals

The guide for travellers and animal lovers: discover, plan and share your wild adventures around the world.

Discover wildlife

  • Species
  • Ecosystems
  • Glossary
  • Tags

Explore places

  • Map
  • Countries
  • Parks
  • Diving

Plan experiences

  • Guides

Learn

  • Blog

Resources

  • Help centre
  • Contact
  • Install the app

Follow us

Account

  • Log in
  • Create account

© 2026 WAnimals. All rights reserved.

About usHow we build our profilesTerms of servicePrivacyLegal notice
MapSpeciesParksDiving
  1. Home
  2. Species
  3. Kit Fox

One of the 17 foxes on WAnimals

Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis)

Mammals · Carnivora · Canidae

Kit Fox

Vulpes macrotis

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.

Spotted something wrong?

The kit fox is the smallest canid in North America, with a slender body and enormous ears that stand out on a small head. It lives in the deserts of the south-western United States and northern Mexico, where it hunts mainly rodents, rabbits and insects. It is strictly nocturnal and spends the day in burrows it digs itself. Its greatest problem is not the shortage of water but competition with and predation by coyotes, which have spread with farming.

Weight

1.6 kg – 2.7 kg

Size

45 cm – 55 cm

Life expectancy

7 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

DesertGrassland
3countries7parks34same family

AI-generated images: illustrations, not photographs.

Fun facts

  • It does not need to drink: it gets all the water it needs from the flesh of its prey, an independence that lets it occupy areas with no water at all.
  • It keeps several dens in use at once and moves between them every few days, which reduces its parasite load and makes it harder for coyotes to find it.

Life cycle and biology

Skeleton type
Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat and environment
Scrub desert, arid grassland and sandy plains of the North American south-west
Sexual maturity
12 months
Gestation / incubation
54 days
Litter / clutch size
4

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/

Where to find it

Loading map…

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.

Where to see it

Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.

Related species

Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Kit Fox — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.

Same taxonomic family
Same taxonomic family
Same taxonomic family
Shares a park
Shares a park
Shares a park

Keep exploring

Based on what we already know about kit fox.

Comments

Share an experience, a fun fact or a tip for seeing the kit fox.

Be the first to comment.

See full glossary
This page in other languages: Español · Deutsch · Français · Português · Italiano
See its range on the interactive map→
Death ValleyUnited States
El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de AltarMexico
Great BasinUnited States
CanyonlandsUnited States
ArchesUnited States
Joshua TreeUnited States
White SandsUnited States
CoyoteLeast Concern

Coyote

Canis latrans

Gray FoxLeast Concern

Gray Fox

Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Least Concern

Swift Fox

Vulpes velox

Mexican Free-tailed BatLeast Concern

Mexican Free-tailed Bat

Tadarida brasiliensis

Least Concern

Ord's Kangaroo Rat

Dipodomys ordii

Greater RoadrunnerLeast Concern

Greater Roadrunner

Geococcyx californianus

CountriesUnited States
ParksDeath ValleyUnited States
TagsCarnivore
Carnivore
Nocturnal
In pairs
Desert
Grassland
Mammal
United States
Mexico
Canada