Effects of habitat composition on the use of resources by the red fox in a semi arid environment of North Africa

African carnivores as taphonomic agents: Contribution of modern coprogenic sample analysis to their identification

“…fox scats from Morocco. The prey diversity observed in our samples is in agreement with previous data related to the diet of some North African small carnivores, notably the genet (Amroun, Giraudoux, & Delattre, 2006;Delibes, Rodriguez, & Parrend, 1989;Hamdine, Thévenot, Sellami, & De Smet, 1993;Mostefai, Sellami, & Grenot, 2003), the fennec fox (Brahmi et al, 2012), and the sand fox (Denys et al, 1992) as well as a medium lightweight carnivore, the red fox (Dell'Arte & Leonardi, 2005). We confirm here the large spectrum of prey species eaten by such small and medium carnivores (genets and foxes), with a dominance of insects and rodents, but also seeds, snakes, small birds, and fruits.…”

Logging and livestock influence the abundance of common mammal species in Mediterranean forested environments

“…Red fox avoid villages (Prigioni et al, 2008), but tend to select human-use habitats rather than natural habitats for foraging, thus increasing the probability of being killed by vehicles during both the breeding and the kit-rearing seasons (Grilo et al, 2009;Silva et al, 2009). Red fox is considered an opportunistic predator, able to exploit a wide range of available food resources and different habitats, however, the dispersion of its main prey may affect (more than habitat composition) red fox territory size (Dell'Arte and Leonardi, 2005). Although there is increasing public consciousness regarding the importance of conserving carnivore species (Treves and Karanth, 2003), the red fox is still considered vermin by ranchers and small game hunters in Spain, and hence they are legally hunted and have been heavily persecuted (Virgós and Travaini, 2005).…”

Spatial patterns of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) dens in a semi-arid landscape of North Africa

“…Fragmentation effects will not only depend on the proportion of pristine habitat in the landscape but also on the suitability of the surrounding habitats (Andrén, 1994). In a semi‐arid landscape, the importance of contiguous profitable areas is increased by the pressure of harsh environmental factors and more patches reached by foxes near their dens favour the optimal exploitation of resources (Dell’Arte & Leonardi, 2005). In this manner, the spatial arrangement of dens in favourable zone maximise available space surrounding dens against limiting factors (roads and unsuitable areas).…”

“…, 2002). Thus, different patterns of the use of space and differences in territorial defence by red foxes inhabiting large and small ranges can promote overlapping between fox groups or selective exploitation of patches (Goszczynski, 2002; Dell’Arte & Leonardi, 2005). However, suitable areas for dens can also influence the territory size and social organization of a terrestrial predator (Lovari et al.…”