In China's mythological novels, foxes are often described as feminine and hooked little goblins, although the name of the fox spirit is not good, but the people who are called fox spirits are generally very outstanding, of course, this is mainly because the fox looks too hooky.
In the fox family, the Tibetan fox may be an exception, they are good-looking, they look very loyal and honest, they are honest people, and they are not at all hooked like the fox spirits described in mythological novels.
But if you look at people by their appearance, then you are really too small to look at the Tibetan fox, although they are cute, they are actually very fierce predators.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > Tibetan fox</h1>
Compared with other foxes, you will find that the difference between the Tibetan fox and other foxes is that other foxes have a pointed chin, but the Tibetan fox has a square face. In fact, the bones of Tibetan foxes are the same as those of other foxes, and the reason why their faces are square is because of the visual effect formed by their thick hair, which also makes them look more cute.
Tibetan foxes mainly live in plateau meadows, alpine grasslands and desert grasslands at an altitude of 2000-2500 meters, and are most commonly found in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region of China.
The Tibetan fox is small, weighing only about 3.8 to 4.6 kg, and is a smaller local carnivore. The living environment in the highland area is very harsh, and there are many large predators living here, such as leopards, wolves, bears and even vultures, and the Tibetan fox is small and difficult to resist the attacks of large predators and birds of prey, but the grassland trees are limited and cannot provide them with a place to hide their figures. In order to survive, Tibetan foxes usually burrow underground, and their underground nests often come from their food: marmots.
Although the marmot is very angry about the robbery of the cave, it has no way, because it is also the food of the Tibetan fox, and if it dares to resist, it will be a small life that awaits it.
In fact, the number of Tibetan foxes preying on marmots is not much, the plateau pika is their most important food source, accounting for 95% of the total food, in the stage of feeding the cubs, they need to prey on about 10 pika rabbits a day to meet the survival needs of the family. Fortunately, the highland pika is very fertile, the reproduction rate is very fast, and it can provide a steady stream of food for it.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > breeding method of Tibetan foxes</h1>
Mammalian families mostly adopt polygamy, in which the male is rarely involved in raising offspring, and only the female bears the hardships of pregnancy. But the Tibetan fox is an exception, the Tibetan fox is a typical monogamous system, and like humans, once the spouse is identified, it will not be replaced for life, unless one of them dies for various reasons.
After the Tibetan fox starts to form a family, it will begin to mate every spring, and the cubs will be born after April and May. Newborn pups are incapable of surviving and the environment is very insecure, and they must hide in caves every day, waiting for their parents to feed them.
Under normal circumstances, the Tibetan fox will give birth to 2-5 per litter, in the case of sufficient food, the survival rate of the cubs is higher, and when there is insufficient food, the parents will focus on feeding 1-2 of the stronger cubs, and the weak cubs can only die in hunger.
The cubs have a high demand for food, which means that both parents need to participate in the hunt (usually in the form of taking turns to forage), and the external environment is very unsafe, and the parents may not return during the foraging process, at which time the surviving party will work harder to avoid the offspring from starving to death.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > the current situation of the Tibetan fox</h1>
At present, the Tibetan fox is not in danger of extinction, but it is still listed as a national second-level protected animal in China. The reason why they are listed as national second-level protected animals is because they are very important in the local ecological chain, and if there is no Tibetan fox, then the local highland pika will probably flood.
Plateau pikas are very fast in reproduction and reproduction, and they are good at digging holes, although the burrows they dig can become the nests of other animals, but if the plateau pika burrows are too numerous, it will also cause the land to collapse, and almost every two walks will step on a hole.
Although there is no harm in the extinction of Tibetan foxes today, local overgrazing has had a certain impact on Tibetan foxes. The main food of the Tibetan fox is the plateau pika, and overgrazing will lead to the food of the plateau pika being plundered, coupled with the fact that the pasture will poison the pika in order to ensure the growth of the pasture, further reducing the number of pikas, after the number of pikas is reduced, the number of Tibetan foxes will also be reduced, affecting the healthy operation of the local ecological chain.
Although the Tibetan fox is not in danger of extinction, if the problem of overgrazing can be solved, the Tibetan fox may be able to survive in the local area.