My Quest for a Fox - Nature Picture Library

Spirit of the
Sahara:
My Quest for a Fox
Images and words by
Bruno D’Amicis / naturepl.com
Fennecs are the world’s smallest fox species,
living in the world’s largest desert. They are
extremely elusive, and their desert habitat
is very difficult to explore. Dozens of stories are told by nomadic populations to describe the legendary cunning of this little fox
and its ability to literally vanish among the
dunes, even when chased by very fast Sloughi hounds (north African hunting dogs).
Seeing a fennec fox in the wild was a dream
from my childhood that took me 25 years to
fulfil. I knew it was ambitious to try and photograph them, but I could never have anticipated that these tiny, adorable foxes had a
much deeper and more tragic story to tell.
Fennec foxes are still very abundant, with a
range that covers almost all of north Africa and the Sahara, from Morocco through
to Egypt, as far south as northern Niger,
and into the Arabian Desert, as far east as
Kuwait. They are perfectly adapted to life
in the harshest desert environments. Their
nocturnal habits help them deal with the
searing heat of the desert and they can live
without ever drinking water, sourcing fluid
from their food instead. Their distinctive,
batlike ears radiate body heat and help keep
the foxes cool while their paws are covered
in thick fur, which allows them to walk on
the hottest sand. With their long claws they
can dig burrows to take shelter from the heat
during the day, or to escape predators in a
matter of minutes.
Fennec foxes can
hear the click of a
camera shutter from
150 metres away!
A beetle walks across the faint
tracks left by a fennec during
the night. The survival of the
diminutive foxes is largely dependent on the presence and
density of invertebrates and
other prey species. Their sensitive hearing allows them to
detect the footsteps of beetles
even in the pitch black of the
Saharan night.
The minute fennec weighs up to 1.5 kg as
an adult and is only as big as your shoe.
The long and fluffy tail accounts for nearly
60 per cent of the 30 - 40 cm body length.
But the fennec’s most distinctive feature is
surely its incredibly large, radar-shaped ears.
Massive in proportion to the skull, the 15cm
long pinnae are the largest ears in the animal
kingdom, relative to body size.
As well as dissipating body heat, the huge
ears afford fennec foxes a highly developed
sense of hearing, essential for locating their
prey. In the silence of the desert, they can
hear small mammals burrowing under the
sand and even a beetle walking on the dunes.
Just imagine how hard it is for a human to
approach unnoticed! Fennecs can hear the
click of a camera shutter from 150m away, so
to say that such an animal is extremely difficult to photograph is a giant understatement!
[Left] Sun filtering through sand
during a severe sandstorm.
[Below] The Sahara is not an easy
place to travel in a vehicle. My car
would get stuck in the sand while
driving across the dunes.
The Sahara can be a very unforgiving environment. The scorching heat of summer
days contrasts with the freezing temperatures in winter. Scorpions and venomous
snakes move at night on the dunes and wind
is a constant threat. In just a few hours, a
gentle breeze can develop into a fierce gale
that blows sand in every direction.
During sandstorms, which can be very
frequent in spring, fennecs shelter in their
burrows and do not move around. And such
conditions meant I could not even take my
camera out in the open if I didn’t want to
damage it. This proved to be a serious logistical problem for me while living in the desert environment. In fact, I first approached
the fennec range on a horse-led cart and
carrying a traditional wool-woven nomad
tent. It worked well until the first sandstorm.
In a few minutes sand was everywhere, and
on everything! My assistants and I couldn’t
even keep our eyes open! We had to call a
4WD car for rescue and this took hours to
arrive. Frustrated, we looked for a different
solution. Luck assisted us when we found a
small concrete hut in a remote corner of the
Great Eastern Erg in southern Tunisia. Built
to offer cover to the keeper of a voltaic well,
where semi-domestic camels were taken to
quench their thirst, I was able to shelter there
and finally plan a longer presence in the field,
searching for fennecs.
[Above] The hut I worked from
was no more than 12 square metres, with a rusty metal door and a
window. Yet it afforded me, my assistants and equipment with protection from sandstorms, as well
as constant access to freshwater.
The unique biodiversity of the Sahara is facing a tremendous crisis due to unmanaged
hunting and habitat destruction. In comparison to other ecosystems, the endangered
fauna and flora of the desert doesn’t seem to
make the news or draw much attention.
[Top Left] A Rhim or Slender-horned gazelle
(Gazella leptoceros loderi) on sand dunes,
Great Erg Oriental, Tunisia. This endangered
species has suffered through habitat loss and
warfare. It is hunted for meat and its horns
are sold as ornaments.
[Left] Desert monitor (Varanus griseus) moving across sand dunes in the Sahara. Active
during the day, desert monitors range over
large distances, usually between 5-6km, returning to their burrow before sunset.
[Above] A brown-necked raven (Corvus
ruficollis) sits atop a dune in the early morning. Dawn in the Sahara is magical, and I
was often greeted with scenes like this when
I set out each day to look for fennecs.
It took me three weeks to find the first den.
One spring evening, a female emerged from
her burrow and nursed her young pups,
something that has maybe never been photographed before. I can’t describe my excitement. If seeing a fennec fox was my childhood dream, observing a whole family and
the adorable pups at play was surely the best
reward for all the intense effort.
Early every morning, I searched for the
tracks left by fennec foxes. The faint pug
marks are easily erased by the first gust of
wind, so I couldn’t waste any time. I hoped
to find a track that would eventually lead to a
fennec burrow. It was the famous needle in a
haystack, easier said than done.
Over many days, we followed tracks that
wandered for kilometres. Some led us to
trash cans, camel dung or latrines. Others
looped back on themselves, taking us back to
our hut, where we’d left some food remains.
More often, they would linger around rodent
holes or bird nests. It was very frustrating.
But luck finally smiled on us and we found a
track that led us straight to our first den site.
I knew how lucky I was to find my little “holy
grail” and I was determined to protect the
site, by keeping it a closely guarded secret. I
was extremely careful to avoid leading other
people or predators to the den with my tracks
and approached the site always in the middle
of the day, when the foxes were asleep, so
that I wouldn’t disturb them.
Despite this great breakthrough, capturing
fennec behaviour on camera proved to be
super hard. The secrecy of the adult female
and the unpredictable weather afforded me
just a handful of successful sessions with the
foxes from all the many attempts I made.
One time, a sandstorm kept me inside for 10
days, and when I was finally able to emerge, I
discovered that the fennecs had moved their
den and I had to track them again.
Although you can sometimes see fennec
foxes resting and playing on the warm sand
during the day, they are primarily nocturnal animals. They have good night vision,
but perceive their dark environment mostly
through a highly developed sense of smell
and, above all, hearing. With the ability to
filter sounds through many centimetres of
sand, fennecs dig for small rodents, lizards,
birds, eggs, and insects. They also feed on
fruit, leaves and roots, which provide nearly
all of their liquid intake.
Despite being social animals, fennecs prefer
to hunt alone and may roam large distances
to locate their prey in the dark silence of the
Sahara.
Fennec foxes can navigate the desert at night
much more easily than people can! To photograph their nocturnal habits, I had to use
camera trap set-ups, equipped with strobe
lights. It took me weeks just to figure out the
foxes’ routines and choose the right spots
to place my equipment, but the results were
hugely rewarding. The fox above took a selfportrait when it crossed the invisible infrared
beam of a camera trap placed along a trail I
discovered through the desert dunes.
The image on the left was taken next to an
invertebrate burrow in the desert, at the
border between Tunisia and Algeria. After
several nights of leaving the camera trap in
place, a fox eventually tripped the infrared
beam. I later discovered that only one of the
two strobes had fired, because gerbils had
gnawed the cables connecting the second
one! Together with political unrest, sand
storms and poachers, this was just one of the
many challenges I faced while working with
the extremely elusive fennec, in one of the
planet’s most unrelenting environments.
Vixens give birth only once each year, usually to a relatively small litter of 2-4 pups. The
pups are born blind and helpless, and the
mother attends them continuously for the
first two weeks. At four weeks, the pups begin to play within the den, and at five weeks,
play extends to the area just outside the den
entrance.
At the age of two months, fennec pups can
already be seen digging in the sand for prey.
Although fully weaned at about 60-70 days,
fennec offspring require parental care for a
much longer period. They are not fully independent until they reach 6-9 months of age.
Little is known about
predator - prey relationships in fennecs. They
are thought to be preyed
upon by monitor lizards
[left], eagle owls [below]
and jackals. Meanwhile,
they are known to catch
and feed on vipers [right]
[Above and Right] These pups near the entrance of their den were only a few months
old. At this age, the pups are especially vulnerable to predators. Their sand-coloured fur
helps them blend in with their environment,
and their burrows are designed for quick
escape, often connecting to extensive tunnel
systems with multiple exits. Adult fennecs
dig their burrows in concealed corners of the
desert, in the firm sand underneath bushes.
The roots of the plants help hold the sand
together and provide additional support for
the tunnel walls.
Although it is unclear which animals prey on
fennecs, their greatest enemy is undoubtedly
humans. Being such an adaptable and intelligent animal, I was surprised by the wariness they showed, even in the remote parts
of the desert, far away from people and settlements. They seemed not to tolerate human
presence. I was about to discover why.
We only have anecdotal information about
the biology and behaviour of fennecs, and
most of that comes from scientific research
carried out on captive foxes. Despite knowing
so little about them, the fennec’s charismatic
cuteness makes it a Saharan icon - as well as
a favorite victim of the illegal pet trade across
its whole range. It is also threatened by habi-
tat destruction (such as the burning of shrubs
to make charcoal, reducing the root systems
fennecs need to dig their burrows), as well as
poaching. Fennec fur is prized by the people
of the Sahara - and the foxes are sometimes
hunted and trapped by desert communities
that consider them pests, though they rarely
pose a threat to people or domestic animals.
[Left] A cartoon fennec fox
known as ‘Labib’ was created
under the regime of Ben Ali as
a symbol for nature protection
in Tunisia.
[Top of page] An adult fennec
fox peers over a sand dune.
Fennecs are elusive, fast, and
wary of humans, making them
extremely difficult to track.
[Above] Fennecs get their
name from the Arabic word
fanak, meaning ‘fox’, written
here alongside fennec tracks
in the sand.
[Below] Considered a lucky
charm, the tail of a fennec fox
hangs from a Tunisian car’s
mirror. The fur is prized by
the people of north Africa.
I photographed this fennec, named ‘Sultan’,
in the market of Douz, a desert town in Tunisia. He was kept on a leash and offered up as
a photo opportunity for tourists, who were
asked to either pay for taking their pictures,
or buy something from the shop. Although
Sultan was caught in the wild as a pup, the
owners of the shop told tourists that he was
‘domestic’.
Fennecs are somehow cursed by their own
cuteness. Across their whole range in northern Africa, these animals get caught or
trapped, be be sold as pets for as little as
$70, or used as tourist attractions. Beside the
unacceptable conditions in which these captive foxes are very often kept (underfed and
neglected), they do not belong in an urban
environment. It is desperately sad to think of
an animal with such sensitive hearing being
placed into a busy market, full of people, animals, motorcycles and cars.
On the last day of my very first trip to Tunisia, I was approached by a boy who tried to
sell me a fennec pup (see p.1). His worn-out
slippers and ragged appearance made me
immediately aware of the difficult conditions
he was living in. After talking to the boy, I
discovered that he’d caught the pup himself,
by digging it out of its burrow in the desert.
He was completely unaware of the harm he
had caused to the pup. I firmly refused his
offer and tried instead to make the boy aware
of the serious consequences of his act.
Difficult socio-economic conditions, lack of
education, and the turbulent political situation in the Sahara region (particularly following the recent Arab Spring uprisings),
have increased the illegal trade in fennec
foxes and other Saharan species.
Sometimes, traders or naïve tourists who
have purchased a fennec fox pup try to
smuggle them across borders. If the pups
are discovered, they are confiscated and often euthanized. A few still make it across to
reach the black market and are sold as exotic
pets in Europe, Asia and North America.
By covering not only the natural history
of fennec foxes but also the threats to their
conservation, I wanted to bring peoples’ attention to this unique species and the challenging human environment that makes
wildlife conservation in the Sahara such a
difficult task.
The political situation meant that I frequently encountered roadblocks and was subjected
to regular police checks on my camera equipment. For me, photojournalism is above all
about documenting reality and raising awareness. As disturbing as they might be, I
hope my images will make people aware of
the ongoing crisis affecting Saharan wildlife.
This wild-caught pup was dug out of its den,
along with its siblings. A young man and a
camel driver (above) were showing the pups
off at a camel trekking site, where they hoped
to sell them or at least get paid for pictures.
The tail of a fennec fox dangles
from the neck of a dromedary
camel in Tunisia. The tails are
used as good luck charms.
Where there was once law enforcement
against environmental crimes in many north
African countries, they are all too often overlooked in today’s political landscape. Unrest
and extreme poverty have blocked all environmental policies and education.
Other rare Saharan species such as gazelles
and houbara bustards are also suffering as a
result. If crucial measures aren’t taken soon,
including education of desert villagers, the
fragile and truly unique fauna of the Sahara - especially in Tunisia, Algeria and Lybia,
might be lost. Tourists must also share in this
responsibility, by not paying to pose with
fennec pups, or to watch a snake charmer,
for instance.
This fennec was captured as an adult, and
kept in a busy Tunisian market (souk). For an
animal whose senses are finely tuned to the
silence of the desert, the chaos of an urban
environment is torture. The animal showed
clear signs of distress. It had patches of fur
missing and spent most of its time hiding
behind carpets and other items. It died a few
days after these pictures were taken.
In a small village in the Tunisian Sahara, I
came across this fennec that had been kept
for a year on a leash, tied to a wheel hub in
a small sheep pen. With barely any room to
move, it was too weak to walk by itself, but it
often tried to burrow into the sand floor, both
to escape people and the animals sharing
the pen with it. I found out that it had been
caught in the wild as a pup by some desert
nomads and then given to a kid, who kept
it illegally. Although the young owner truly
loved his pet, the animal was very stressed
and underfed.
I photographed it on two separate occasions
and only for very brief periods of time, so as
to not to add more stress to its situation. I
resolutely refused to pay a fee to take these
pictures and thereby support this practice
and I pleaded with the owner to release it,
explaining the cruelty of keeping fennecs as
pets. I asked him to at least provide it with
a longer leash and take it outside for walks
sometimes. Even though I knew that the animal had spent too much time in captivity
and had little chance of surviving in the wild,
I was relieved when I heard some time later
that the owner had released it. Nobody has
seen it since and I like to think that it found
its way back to its natural habitat, however
remote that possibility may seem.
I wish I never had to witness the sad situations of captive fennecs, and was instead left
to treasure the precious moments I had watching them among the silent and ephemeral
dunes, but I firmly believe their story is one
worth telling in its entirety.
We desperately need to raise awareness about
the future of Saharan nature and I believe
that there is no better ambassador for it than
the amazing fennec fox.
Buno D’Amicis has a
background in animal
ecology and specialises
in photographing wild
animals in their natural
habitat. He worked extensively in southern Tunisia to document the natural history of the
fennec fox, as well as the threats they face
through trade and exploitation. ‘The image
of a fennec I found in a book when I was just
a boy shaped my future,’ he says, ‘I promised
myself that one day I would search for that
special fox among the dunes of the Sahara.’
Contact:
timaldred@naturepl.com
+44(0)117 911 4675