San Joaquin Kit Fox Facts - Vulpes macroitis mutica - Defenders of Wildlife
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The tiny and secretive San Joaquin kit fox is one of the most endangered animals in California. The kit fox is the size of a housecat, with big ears, a long bushy tail and furry toes that help to keep it cool in its hot and dry Central Valley environment. They are difficult to spot with their buff, tan or yellowish-grey fur.
Fast Facts
Height: 12 inches at the shoulder.
Length: 20 Inches.
Weight: 5 lbs (male).
Lifespan: 7 years.
Diet
Kit foxes primarily eat rodents and other small animals, including black-tailed hares, desert cottontails, mice, kangaroo rats, squirrels, birds and lizards. Kit foxes do not need to drink water since their prey provides enough liquid for them to survive.
Population
Did You Know?
Kit foxes are the smallest canid species in North America, though San Joaquin kit fox is the largest subspecies.
No one knows historic population numbers for the San Joaquin kit fox. However, kit foxes were relatively common until the 1930s when people began to convert grasslands to farms, orchards and cities. Currently, there are less than 7,000 San Joaquin kit foxes.
Range
The San Joaquin kit fox was originally found throughout most of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. However, the kit fox is now found only on the edges of the San Joaquin Valley from southern Kern County up to Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin Counties on the west and up to Stanislaus County on the east, and a few populations exist within the Valley floor. See a kit fox range map >>
Behavior
The San Joaquin kit fox is active mostly at night. Kit foxes live in underground dens, which they need to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. These dens also keep them safe from coyotes and shelter their pups. Kit foxes use dens built by other animals or structures such as large drainage pipes. One fox may use between 3 and 24 different dens each year.
Reproduction
Mating season: December - March.
Gestation: 48-52 days.
Litter Size: 3-5 pups.
Kit fox parents will care for their pups until they are able to find food for themselves, at about 4-5 months old.
Climate Change and Other Threats
San Joaquin kit fox populations rise and fall with the amount of annual rainfall: more rain means more kit foxes. Changes in precipitation patterns, including reduced rainfall and increase changes of drought, all caused by climate change, would have an impact on San Joaquin kit fox populations.
The change in the Central Valley from open grasslands to farms, orchards, houses and roads has had the greatest impact on San Joaquin kit foxes, causing death, illness, injury, difficulty in finding a mate and difficulty in finding food. Kit fox also are killed by coyotes and red foxes. Another threat is poison used to kill rats and mice. A recent decision by the federal government to limit to use of these poisons outdoors may keep kit foxes safe.
Defenders at Work
Reasons for Hope
In September 2007, Wildlands, Inc. announced the designation of the 684-acre Deadman Creek Conservation Bank, which is intended specifically to protect habitat of the San Joaquin kit fox. Learn more >>
Through our California office, Defenders of Wildlife has been working to save important San Joaquin kit fox habitat by helping to protect native grasslands in one of the fastest growing areas in the country.
Defenders has formed an unusual alliance with the California Cattlemen’s Association, and this group, called the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition, now has more than 50 members working to save 13 million acres of rangelands in the Central Valley through easements and restoration projects. More than 1 million of those acres fall within essential kit fox habitat. Read a Defenders Magazine article about kit foxes >>
Legal Status/Protection
- Endangered Species Act (ESA): The U.S. Department of the Interior declared the San Joaquin kit fox an endangered in 1967.
- California placed the kit fox on the state endangered species list in 1971.
- Learn more about legal status and protection of San Joaquin kit foxes >>
How You Can Help
- Help kit foxes and other wildlife by adopting a kit fox today at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
- Take Action for Wildlife at our Wildlife Action Center.
