Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran

When out walking around the edge of Dhahran Hills Waste-Water Lake recently I came across a single Arabian Red Fox, in a very deep depression area with large trees. The fox saw me immediately and ran away up the steep bank but I managed to get one in focus phot below. They are relatively common in Dhahran and can be seen most weeks of the year if you look in the right areas, particularly around Dhahran Hills golf course. They have very large ears to help dissipate the heat they encounter living in the hot climates of the Middle East as well as more fur between their toes to help them overcome heat issues associated with the ground the walk over.

Arabian Red Fox - Dhahran

When out walking in the rough scrubby area near to Dhahran Hills Waste-Water Lake recently I came across an Arabian Red Fox. This fox was quite wary and kept its distance and never came fully out into the open. They are relatively common in Dhahran and can be seen most weeks of the year if you look in the right areas, particularly around Dhahran Hills golf course. The Red Fox is currently recognized as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal (excluding humans). Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox, and they look very different.

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

When out walking in the early morning at the edge of Dhahran Hills Waste-Water Lake I came across three Arabian Red Fox close to the dried-up edge of the lake. I have seen them in this area previously but they seldom let you close. This one was no exception and as soon as it saw me it moved off into the cover and stopped for a while to make sure I was not a treat before running off. I only managed a couple of photos, but quite like the one below. They are relatively common in Dhahran and mostly seen in the early morning or late evening.

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

When out walking in the early morning at the edge of Dhahran Hills Waste-Water Lake I came across two Arabian Red Fox on the dried-up edge of the lake. I have seen them in this area previously but this time they were far away. I eventually managed to get a bit closer before one saw me and they both ran off. One stopped briefly and looked back at me allowing a photo to be taken before running off into the red beds. They are relatively common but always nice to see in my opinion.

Arabian Red Fox - Dhahran

When out walking in the rough scrubby area near to Dhahran Hills Waste-Water Lake in mid-June I came across three Arabian Red Fox. The foxes were far away when I first saw them at the far end of the lake, but as I walked around, I saw one hiding behind a bush at very close range. I managed to work my way so I could see its head and ears before it moved off. Over the next half hour, I saw a couple more and managed to take the below photos. They are relatively common in Dhahran and can be seen most weeks of the year if you look in the right areas, particularly around Dhahran Hills golf course. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox, as can be seen from the photos below.

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Hills

When out walking in the rough scrubby area near to Dhahran Hills Waste-Water Lake in mid-May I came across an Arabian Red Fox. The fox was aware of me, and I spent a few minutes playing hide and seek with it, until I finally manage to get into a position to at least see its face properly. They are relatively common in Dhahran and can be seen most weeks of the year if you look in the right areas, particularly around Dhahran Hills gold course. The Red Fox is currently recognized as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal (excluding humans). Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox, and they look very different.

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Hills

When out walking in the rough scrubby area near to Dhahran Hills Lake I came across an Arabian Red Fox running across the rough ground at some distance from me. I managed to take one distant photo before it disappeared from view. As the photograph was taken in December the fox is in its winter coat that is thicker than the one it has in the summer months. The Red Fox is currently recognized as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal. Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox, and look very different.

Arabian Red Fox – Jubail area

Whilst birding the Jubail area 17 September we came across an Arabian Red Fox. Initially the animal was quite some distance but we managed to manouver the car to get excellent views of the fox which was completely unfazed by our presence. These are the best views I have had of this species for quite a few years and was an excellent start to the days birdwatching. Red Fox is currently recognized as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal. Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Red Fox occupies a wide variety of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, deserts and agricultural and human-dominated environments with a recent genomically comprehensive study suggesting the originated from the Middle East. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox looking quite different. This individual appears to have most of its summer coat remaining, but its tail is coming into winter plumage.

Arabian Red Fox – Judah

Whilst at Judah in the early morning just as it was getting light, I spotted an Arabian Red Fox on the large sandstone cliffs. It was quite a distance from me and was aware of my presence and miainly kept partially hidden before moving off. I regularly see Arabian Red Fox bit they are almost always in Dhahran where I live and I had not seen them at Judah on previous visits. They are a common species in Saudi Arabia and occur throughput the Kingdom. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox.

Arabian Red Fox – Tanoumah

Whilst in Tanoumah in October Phil Roberts and I set up Phil’s trail camera and left it overnight to see if we could photograph anything interesting. We were hoping for Indian Porcupine or something rare but only managed a couple of Arabian Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes. One was taken in the daylight and shows and animal with its winter coat, as the temperature was only 22 degrees Celsius much cooler tha the 34 degrees Celsius we left behind in Dhahran where we live. I have not seen Arabian Red Fox in the southwest although we did get photos on a camera trap left overnight near Abha this spring. The Red Fox is currently regarded as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal in the world. Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Red Fox occupies a wide variety of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, deserts and agricultural and human-dominated environments. They are certainly very different to the Red Fox we get in the United Kingdom of which I am familiar, being much smaller and a very different colour. They also have much bigger ears and more fur between their toes, all things adapted for living in the hot desert conditions.

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran

I have recently been seeing a few Arabian Red Foxes in Dhahran, a sight I always treasure. The Red Fox is currently recognized as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal. Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Red Fox occupies a wide variety of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, deserts and agricultural and human-dominated environments. Interestingly a recent study (see paper detail below) was conducted providing the most geographically and genomically comprehensive study to date of the Red Fox. Analysis of mitochondrial sequence of 1000 individuals suggested an ancient Middle Eastern origin for all extant Red Foxes with demographic analyses indicated a major expansion in Eurasia during the last glaciation 50,000 years ago. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox, and look very different.

Arabian Red fox with cubs in Dhahran – Record by Vinu Mathew

Whilst in Dhahran Vinu Mathew found and photographed an Arabian Red Fox with cubs. They were on an area of fenced off land and were happily playing together. I have also been seeing quite a few Arabian Red Foxes in Dhahran Camp nearby also with cubs so presumably the animals breed in the cooler months of the winter so by full summer the young are well grown and more able to look after themselves. The species is a common animal although not see so often as they spend a lot of time hunting in the cool of the night. Sometimes when they become used to people like on Dhahran camp they can become quite confident and allow close approach. You can see clearly from Vinu's excellent photographs how large the ears are on this subspecies of Red Fox, useful for hearing but also dissipating heat from the animal. I thank Vinu for sending me the details and for allowing me permission to use his photos on my website which are shown below.

Arabian Red Fox - Dhahran

I have recently been seeing a few Red Foxes in Daharan a sight I always treasure. The Red Fox is currently recognized as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal. Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Red Fox occupies a wide variety of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, deserts and agricultural and human-dominated environments. Interestingly a recent study (see paper detail below) was conducted providing the most geographically and genomically comprehensive study to date of the Red Fox. Analysis of mitochondrial sequence of 1000 individuals suggested an ancient Middle Eastern origin for all extant Red Foxes with demographic analyses indicated a major expansion in Eurasia during the last glaciation 50,000 years ago.

Red Fox probably originated in the Middle East

Currently recognized as a single species, the Red Fox Vulpes vulpes has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal. Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Red Fox occupies a wide variety of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, deserts and agricultural and human-dominated environments. Interestingly a recent study (see paper detail below) was conducted providing the most geographically and genomically comprehensive study to date of the Red Fox. Analysis from this study, including mitochondrial sequence of 1000 individuals suggested an ancient Middle Eastern origin for all extant Red Foxes with demographic analyses indicated a major expansion in Eurasia during the last glaciation 50,000 years ago. This was concluded as the most basal mtDNA lineages primarily occurred in the Middle East, suggesting that the red fox could have arisen in that region.

M. J. Statham et al. 2014. Range-wide multilocus phylogeography of the red fox reveals ancient continental divergence, minimal genomic exchange and distinct demographic histories. Molecular Ecology 23; 4813–4830.

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Hills

Whilst out birding recently I managed to get good and close views on a pair of Arabian Red Foxes. I see these animals occasionally but only ever seem to get good views when I am out with my girls. It seems amazing that virtually every time we look together we see them whilst when I look on my own I rarely do. The animals do not appear to be frightened of human activity and allow very close approach at times. I have also seen a few other foxes recently some with cubs. Every time I see the Arabian Red Foxes it amazes me how different they look to the Red Fox we get in England, which are bigger and much darker coloured than the ones here in Saudi Arabia.

Arabian Red Foxes - Dhahran Hills

I saw two Arabian Red Foxes for the first time in several weeks and managed to get close and photograph them. The last few sightings I have had, have been very brief including once of an adult and three small cubs. I almost always see the animals as it is getting dark so the light is never the best but the photos show then animals quite well especially their well-adapted large ears. At this time of year the animals are never at their best and look a bit worn and tiered, probably after having to bring up a family earlier in the year. No matter how many times I see the animals and how close I get I always enjoy seeing the foxes and it normally makes a very nce ending to the evenings birding.

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Hills

The Arabian Red Foxes are currently being seen in a number of places around the camp. I have had many reports of the foxes on or near the golf course with others in a few places around Dhahran Hills. Most are seen after dark but a few occur just as the sun is setting making taking photographs of them difficult, as the light is poor. On one occasion this week I managed to photograph one Arabian Red Fox in good sunlight as it was seen early in the morning with the best photos shown below. I am always happy to see the foxes and happier still if I can manage a few good photos of them.

Two different Arabian Red Foxes – Dhahran Hills

Sightings of Arabian Red Fox appear to be increasing as the temperature increases slightly. I have seen then on a number of occasions in the last week on the ‘patch’ mostly in the scrubby desert and although they are not as tame as last year they still give quite good views. They are shedding some of their winter coat and become sleeker as the spring progresses. I always like seeing these animals when I am out and about so the increase in sightings is welcome by me at least. The top photos are all of a single fox with the last photo of one sitting on a rock a different animal.