A three month old fennec fox is about to begin training to become an animal ambassador at the San Diego Zoo.
The pup is currently in quarantine at the Children’s Zoo Nursery, where he plays with toys and food puzzles to keep busy.
“Fennec foxes are great hunters, and in order to foster those natural behaviors, we will give him some stuffed mice that he’ll toss around and pounce on as if he’s practicing hunting,” Senior Neonatal Assisted Care Unit Keeper Becky Kier said in a statement. “In the wild he would normally dig for insects in the sand, so we provide him with something to dig through to encourage that behavior as well.”
Some of the pup’s favorite activities include finding mealworms the staff has hidden in cardboard boxes or in his sand mound, which encourages him to use some of his natural searching and digging behaviors.
In its native habitat in the Sahara Desert, the fox’s long, insulated fur keeps it protected from the sun and hot sand. Fully grown, a fennec fox weighs only about three pounds, making it the smallest fox in the world. Its bat-like ears provide extraordinary hearing that can help locate prey underground or up to 1.5 miles away.
As an ambassador, the pup will be a part of the Zoo’s conservation work, helping to teach guests about his species. For now, guests visiting the Zoo can see the fennec fox in the Children’s Zoo nursery in the Zoo’s Discovery Outpost.
