Talk:Fennec fox

Pets
wouldnt it be a good thing to place a " fennecs as pets" section here? they make wonderfull pets..... Gabrielsimon 21:40, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * This question comes awfully close to being flamebait, as there are those who have very strong opinions about keeping non-domesticated animals as pets. That said, there is a section on the raccoon page, which is a similar situation... so I don't see this as a problem, though Wikipedia rules on keeping a neutral point of view should be observed. [shrug] This page is young. Go for it. See what happens. JRice 21:00, 2005 Jun 1 (UTC)

Do you have a fennec? If not, how do you know they make good pets? Dora Nichov 12:17, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

The question can be re-directed: Do you have a Fennec? Several facts can be ascertained, if you bothered to look. (1) There is an established community of Fennec owners. (2) There are Fennec breeders throughout the US (which is one of the larger markets for exotic pets). (3) The Fennec is generally recognized as the only species of fox that possible to keep as a domestic pet.

However, it is an error to call such pets domesticated. It hasn't gone through the long period of breeding and taming that loosely defines domesticated breeds. What makes it possible to keep as a pet is the ease of its temperment and the ability to socialize it. But socialization is neccesary for any pet. A domestic breed not socialized to human contact and left to its own devices will go feral.

The best suggestion is to look for reliable sources of information from Fennec owners (Fennec Fox Directory or About.com's info on Fennec Foxes) and then present opposing opinions of those who are against the ownership of any exotic pets.--David3565 03:21, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes I agree that while you don't want invite "flame bait" sections in the article, Fennecs are an obscure exotic pet that is growing in popularity, therefore it should be listed somewhere in the article, as those are real facts and shouldn't be withheld from a reader. PrecociousPeach (talk) 18:26, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

if it helps
if anyone wants to know more about the habits of domesticted fennecs, it might be good to join a yahoo group called fennec fox, or a cordial fennec group. or fennec resources. they have breeders and many owners as members, who might be able to asnwer questions. Ketrovin 12:34, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

Arabic origin of fennec
Moved form Reference desk/Language:

Strictly speaking this is not a request for translation of an article, but I don't know where else to put this. In the fennec article the following appears: The name "fennec" apparently comes from the Arabic word for fox. Can an Arabic speaker verify this and expand or delete as appropriate? -EDM 16:02, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm a native arabic, and i don't think i've ever heard the word "fennec" in my life. i'm deleting this section from the article.--Amr Hassan 12:09, 9 August 2005 (UTC)
 * It could be possible even if you're a native arabic. The arabic language is very complex, for example, did you know that there's more than 200 words that means "lion" in arabic? CG 12:28, September 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * According to dictionary.com, it comes from Arabic fanak, but it doesn't explain what fanak means. Zoe 19:05, September 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * According to an arabic dictionnary, فنك (fanak) means (This is an approximate translation):
 * An animal species from the Canidae family and the Carnivora order. Similar to a fox. He has large pointy ears, soft furr, agile legs. He wanders from sunrise to sunset. He feeds on birds, insects and reptiles. His habitat is the African continent and the Arabic peninsula. His furr in one of the best {Persian).
 * So "fennec" comes from the Arabic "fannak" which according to the last word comes from Persian.
 * Please add this conversation to Talk:Fennec and the information to the fennec article specifying the source. CG 20:32, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

The Punic & Arabic related Maltese language uses tal-Fenek for Rabbit. Fenech is a Maltese family name & the complication there is the possibility of the Italian origin Finocchio - Fennel (but also a pejorative slang term for a gay man). I recall seeing a news article on one of the Australian boxers of the name who claimed the Rabbit or Hare translation. This would make the Fennec Fox a Rabbit[-eared] Fox (i.e. Fox is NOT redundant here). 124.188.100.155 (talk) 13:21, 6 April 2014 (UTC) Ian Ison

another arabic popular dictionary that mentions that Fanak -with one N- means (This is an approximate translation): a type of foxes, its fur is one of the best furs. Al Mua'jam Al Wajiz, the arabic language academy, Egypt 1999 --Ashashyou (talk) 22:03, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

I've just way toned down the suggestion that zerda is from Greek xeros: this is virtually impossible linguistically. First, you have to be an English-speaker, so that initial X gets pronounced as Z. This doesn't happen in other languages. Next you have to pretend that that D isn't there or that random D's can just get added to words. Presumably it's some kind of native name for the animal (Berber? who know?)... 19:37, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Uh-oh
The page on foxs does not include the fennec fox as a domesticated fox, but instead refers to the silver fox as the only domesticated fox. Likewise, the silver fox article says it is the only domesticated fox.

Genus
If this source classifys the genus as vulpes why is the binominal name Fennecus zerda?--Bjw e  bb (talk) 10:46, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Taxonomy
I removed the Taxonomy section because it made questionable statements about the origin of "zerda". Someone had to have known what "zerda" meant in order to apply the name in the first place. Species names don't come out of nowhere. Coyoty 00:43, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

fennec story hero
A very good children's book is "Mischief in Fez", set in Morocco and featuring a fennec named Baha as the boy protagonist's spirit guide to the world of the djinni.

68.8.166.237 05:38, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

le petit prince
isn't this genus of fox one which told about "taming" to the prince in the Saint Exupery's little prince? as the fox there is also lives in the sahara desert... this coincides and implies that he was a fennec.

Fennec or fennec
It strikes me that this page has fennec sometimes written with an upper case F and sometimes with lower case. Shouldn't someone work out standard spelling and do the whole page with one and the same name for this gorgeous animal? BuzzWoof 12:51, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Asse?
Some crosswords include the word asse for the Fennec and googling it comes up with a few uses, but I cannot find this in dictionaries. Does anyone hear know in what context if any this name is/was used? And if so, should it be listed as an alias of the Fennec? 41.243.28.73 21:29, 24 September 2007 (UTC) (A wandering browser)

Exotic pets
I took this out because it doesn't really have to do with Fennec's but with exotic pets in general:

The issue of owning exotic pets is controversial. Requirements of behavior, diet, environment, socialization, and the demands of the time and attention needed to keep an exotic are often very high. Such factors may not be conducive to the lifestyle of an average person, be more than they are personally willing to invest, or even require special expertise. All these factors, along with the real or perceived danger in handling non- or semi-domesticated animals, are often strongly cited as reasons for never considering the purchase or adoption of an exotic pet. Whatever the decision, such factors must be considered in responsible ownership and care of any pet.

Arthurian Legend 01:37, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Enjoyment Of Pets
To say that one animal is more enjoyable than another is a matter of personal taste, and probably shouldn't be stated as fact.

89.125.45.167 09:25, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

ayo. its emily. peace out. yeahh boi  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.154.236.195 (talk) 23:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Updating taxonomy
I will be updating the Canidae taxonomy and common names to match Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed, 2005) as follows:


 * Family Canidae
 * Genus Vulpes
 * Vulpes lagopus - Arctic Fox (4 subspecies)
 * Vulpes macrotis - Kit Fox
 * Vulpes pallida - Pale Fox (5 subspecies)
 * Vulpes bengalensis - Bengal Fox
 * Vulpes cana - Blanford's Fox
 * Vulpes chama - Cape Fox
 * Vulpes corsac Corsac Fox (2 subspecies)
 * Vulpes ferrilata - move Tibetan Fox to Tibetan Sand Fox (includes ekloni)
 * Vulpes rueppellii - Rüppell's Fox (5 subspecies)
 * Vulpes velox - Swift Fox (includes hebes)
 * Vulpes vulpes - Red Fox (45 subspecies)
 * Vulpes zerda - move Fennec to Fennec Fox
 * Genus Atelocynus
 * Atelocynus microtis - Short-eared Dog
 * Genus Canis
 * Canis adustus - Side-striped Jackal (6 subspecies)
 * Canis aureus - Golden Jackal (13 subspecies)
 * Canis latrans - Coyote (19 subspecies)
 * Canis lupus - Grey Wolf - (37 subspecies, including dingo, familiaris and lycaon)
 * Canis mesomelas - Black-backed Jackal (2 subspecies)
 * Canis simensis - Ethiopian Wolf (2 subspecies)
 * Genus Cerdocyon
 * Cerdocyon thous - Crab-eating Fox (6 subspecies)
 * Genus Chrysocyon
 * Chrysocyon brachyurus - Maned Wolf
 * Genus Cuon
 * Cuon alpinus - Dhole (3 subspecies)
 * Genus Dusicyon
 * Dusicyon australis - Falkland Islands Wolf
 * Genus Lycalopex
 * Lycalopex culpaeus - Culpeo (6 subspecies) was in Pseudalopex genus
 * Lycalopex fulvipes - Darwin's Fox was in Pseudalopex genus
 * Lycalopex griseus - South American Gray Fox new article
 * Lycalopex gymnocercus - Pampas Fox (5 subspecies) was in Pseudalopex genus
 * Lycalopex sechurae - Sechuran Fox new article
 * Lycalopex vetulus - Hoary Fox was in Pseudalopex genus
 * Genus Lycaon
 * Lycaon pictus - African Wild Dog (5 subspecies)
 * Genus Nyctereutes
 * Nyctereutes procyonoides - Raccoon Dog (5 subspecies)
 * Genus Otocyon
 * Otocyon megalotis - Bat-eared Fox (2 subspecies)
 * Genus Speothos
 * Speothos venaticus - Bush Dog (3 subspecies)
 * Genus Urocyon
 * Urocyon cinereoargenteus - Gray Fox (16 subspecies)
 * Urocyon littoralis - Island Fox (6 subspecies)

I will hold off for a few days for comments. Since I'm posting this in multiple places, please contact me on my talk page if you have any concerns. I'll wait a week to give folks time to comment. -

Updating Geographical Locations
The current version of the article says Fennecs are only located in North Africa and Saudi Arabia.. but I'm deployed to Iraq and I see these guys ALL the time (you have to be good at braking on loose gravel to avoid hitting them at night). Anyone got enough free time to search out a verifiable resource so this location can be added to the article? 214.13.173.15 (talk) 13:33, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Drinking Water comment
I cannot believe that any animal could go for years without drinking water. This is most likely an exaggeration. 63.3.3.1 (talk) 05:14, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * You underestimate the amount of water that can be obtained through food consumption, as well as other factors. The Fennec Fox is not the only animal that can go for extreme amounts of time between drinks of water. - UtherSRG (talk) 05:31, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Picture Problem
Is the main/first picture in the article of a Fennec fox?

Its ears don't look long enough. Its head looks wrong - muzzle point vs head width. The body seems a bit big, too.

Can a different picture be put up? Even if it actually IS a fennec, I think it'd be better to have the fox in the main picture look more fennec-like. Gatorgirl7563 (talk) 17:27, 27 April 2012 (UTC)
 * I've removed the image, following a thread at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Dogs. Feel free to replace it with another one which is not in doubt... bobrayner (talk) 17:53, 7 May 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm the original photographer, and by no means a taxonomist. If not a Fennec, then what? I feel the photo is a good representation, and that it was shot in the wild should surely be a plus. I've examined the other photos I have of this individual- the other candidate would be Rüppell's fox- especially considering the muzzle point as mentioned. However, the tail tip on this individual was black, and the back of the ears were dark. This still suggests Fennec to me.

Darylnovak (talk) 00:35, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

Title and animal English name wrong
The title of this page must, ASAP please, be changed to fennec; I can find no authority in any encyclopaedia or dictionary for the phrase "fennec fox" with the first word being either attributive or adjectival. All English dictionaries (and I have more than 20 here including Chambers, Collins, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, American Heritage, Macquarie (Australian English) and many others) and Britannica give only the simple noun fennec as the name of this species of animal. Iph (talk) 20:09, 18 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I guess this is because of IUCN. Materialscientist (talk) 23:58, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

In that case I caught this a good many years too late. For some unfathomable reason, some scientist evidently decided that the single word English name, fennec, which is derived from the Arabic word meaning simply "fox", and appeared in every English language dictionary and encyclopaedia as the name for an animal of this species, so was totally unambiguous, wasn't long enough, and so wrote in some scientific paper that had to mention the species that the English name for this species consisted of two words, without there ever being any dictionary or encyclopaedia entry justifying such a change. We are now apparently stuck for ever with a name that is almost twice as long, and is a totally superfluous pleonasm: "fennec fox" is about as sensible as "River Avon" (where the name "Avon" means "river). But whereas in the latter the name (Avon) refers to only one geographical example so that people from elsewhere might well not be aware that the bare name "Avon" meant "river", in the case of the fennec it is a common name, not a proper name, and so was in every English dictionary and encyclopaedia, and could be looked up.  This is like renaming in ordinary English usage certain other well-known species (and it is obvious in each case which ones I mean although several are actually generic i.e. they are ordinary English terms covering more than one actual species) the "tiger cat", the "heron bird", the "python snake", the "termite insect" and so on. In the case of the fennec, the name has only ever referred to one species; however I do note that in one of the documents listed in the Red List entry, namely the North American regional studbook, where the English name asserted is "fennec fox", the Latin name of the fennec is given as Fennecus zerda. So much for scientific precision and uniqueness of nomenclature. People make mistaks in scientific literature. If there are multiple papers that reference the fennec but give the Latin name Fennecus zerda instead of Vulpes zerda (if that is indeed now the agreed scientific name), it ought still to be possible to go back and correct this unnnecessary almost-doubling of the English name of the species and re-assert the simple name "fennec" which is totally unambiguous (unlike many other English names of species such as "tiger") and totally unlike any other English word and very clear and simple as it is. However, I admit that making that change will involve more than just the article here at Wikipedia. Who is up for doing it?! Iph (talk) 12:08, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I haven't read this whole post, but as far as how to move pages: since this may be disputed, and non-admins presumably can not move this page to "fennec", show that the term is more widely used and open a requested move. "Fennec fox" is definitely a legitimate name, if not the more common one, so we don't need to correct every inbound link. Wikipedia article names reflect usage, scientific names reflect classification: they're a different story. Looks like you may be right, though I'm sceptical as to your theory on the origin of the form "fennec fox". &mdash;innotata 23:01, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Note, sika deer is a widely used term originating in Japan. It is a repetition, because in Japanese sika is the only (commonly used) word for deer. This is to say that our ignorance in foreign languages results in such terms, but there is little we can do about it. Materialscientist (talk) 07:12, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

I think it is also particularly an Americanism, like 'dodo bird' and 'kiwi bird', of the stating-the-bleeding-obvious kind that make me want to tear my hair out. 86.154.218.83 (talk) 14:51, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Spelling
The spelling is not consistent in the article. There is some regular spelling with some British extra letters thrown in. in this revision, it is the first to use any spelling, and they used regular spelling, not British. I checked WP:RETAIN. 71.168.152.247 (talk) 17:36, 10 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Agreed. I've made some behaviour->behavior changes, which were the only inconsistencies that I noticed. (Also, you really shouldn't call it "regular spelling".) --Bongwarrior (talk) 19:36, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

Uhum, 71.168.152.247 - British spelling is regular spelling, to many Commonwealth speakers. There is no 'correct' or 'regular' form of British - all are equally valid. So please don't present US English as the 'norm' or somehow more regular or correct than any other version of English. However, as per MOS, the article should be in the English variety of its first version, if it has no ties via its subject matter to a nationality. 86.154.218.83 (talk) 14:49, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

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Should Eevee and it's evolutions be in the Cultural depictions?
Eevee is a fennec fox merged with a cat, so i think adding it along with it's evolutions (except Espeon) is a good idea83.23.78.190 (talk) 06:54, 4 September 2018 (UTC)

Lack of neutrality in the "as pets" section
I have noticed a general lack of neutrality in the "as pets" section. I understand that keeping non-domesticated animals as pets is controversial, but unequivocally stating hand rearing fennecs is "unethical" when even the cited source material makes no such claim is not promoting a neutral viewpoint. I have removed reference to the ethicality of hand rearing and noticed another user appropriately removed language referring to the feelings of the fennec fox. I mention this here just to encourage users and editors to keep an eye on this section, and perhaps write a more objective criticism of fennec foxes as pets if the need arises (citing a source about health or wellness in captivity might be appropriate, though I am of the impression that extrapolating the feelings of the animal based on nothing is not).

24.2.51.82 (talk) 02:15, 2 January 2019 (UTC)

Species that are related to Fennec Foxes
One of the many species that are related to Fennec foxes are Red foxes. Their lineage is separated by 51 mutations. These two species show similar characteristics, hunting style, activity style, and feed on the same preys. ChristyUIC (talk) 03:07, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Melmann 13:44, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

Omaru Polka
Omaru Polka is a Japanese character personifying a fennec fox. Why is this less of a cultural depiction than a World of Warcraft reference to fennec foxes? Each time this actually legitimate update is added, it is immediately deleted without a reason given. Is this xenophobia or is there a reason why a major entertainer is less of a cultural depiction than a character in Zootopia or a Pokemon? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:9001:3D06:6B00:74A3:32A0:BBF7:A55A (talk) 12:48, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Does David Tennant as fennec fox count as popular culture
I don't know how to add references, but the actor David Tennant was compared with a Fennec Fox by author and showrunner of Good Omens Neil Gaiman (Tennant acts in the show) resulting in an ongoing gag among fans with pictures of fennec foxes and David Tennant with similar poses or looks on several social media platforms from handles dedicated to matching and posting such images. The idea is that they are identical. "David Tennant as fennec fox" should show several such results on Twitter, Google Images, etc. The comparison is widely accepted by fans resulting in images of fennec foxes referred to as David Tennant, etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.242.197.247 (talk) 01:15, 7 March 2022 (UTC) https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/19887304.meme-day-herald-diary/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.242.197.247 (talk) 01:18, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Cultural Depictions
Fennekin from Pokémon is based on the fennec fox. I tried adding this but it was reverted. 88T3 (talk) 01:08, 4 January 2023 (UTC)