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 sto- ries are told by nomadic populations to des- cribe the legendary cunning of this little fox and its ability to literally vanish among the dunes, even when chased by very fast Slou- ghi 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 pho- tograph them, but I could never have anti- cipated that these tiny, adorable foxes had a much deeper and more tragic story to tell. Fennec foxes are still very abundant, with a without ever drinking water, sourcing fluid range that covers almost all of north Afri- from their food instead. Their distinctive, ca and the Sahara, from Morocco through batlike ears radiate body heat and help keep to Egypt, as far south as northern Niger, the foxes cool while their paws are covered and into the Arabian Desert, as far east as in thick fur, which allows them to walk on Kuwait. They are perfectly adapted to life the hottest sand. With their long claws they in the harshest desert environments. Their can dig burrows to take shelter from the heat nocturnal habits help them deal with the during the day, or to escape predators in a searing heat of the desert and they can live 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 de- pendent on the presence and density of invertebrates and other prey species. Their sen- sitive 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 diffi- cult to photograph is a giant understatement! [Left] Sun filtering through sand [Above] The hut I worked from during a severe sandstorm. was no more than 12 square met- res, with a rusty metal door and a [Below] The Sahara is not an easy window. Yet it afforded me, my as- place to travel in a vehicle. My car sistants and equipment with pro- would get stuck in the sand while tection from sandstorms, as well driving across the dunes. as constant access to freshwater. The Sahara can be a very unforgiving envi- the fennec range on a horse-led cart and ronment. The scorching heat of summer carrying a traditional wool-woven nomad days contrasts with the freezing tempera- tent. It worked well until the first sandstorm. tures in winter. Scorpions and venomous In a few minutes sand was everywhere, and snakes move at night on the dunes and wind on everything! My assistants and I couldn’t is a constant threat. In just a few hours, a even keep our eyes open! We had to call a gentle breeze can develop into a fierce gale 4WD car for rescue and this took hours to that blows sand in every direction. arrive. Frustrated, we looked for a different During sandstorms, which can be very solution. Luck assisted us when we found a frequent in spring, fennecs shelter in their small concrete hut in a remote corner of the burrows and do not move around. And such Great Eastern Erg in southern Tunisia. Built conditions meant I could not even take my to offer cover to the keeper of a voltaic well, camera out in the open if I didn’t want to where semi-domestic camels were taken to damage it. This proved to be a serious logis- quench their thirst, I was able to shelter there tical problem for me while living in the de- and finally plan a longer presence in the field, sert environment. In fact, I first approached searching for fennecs. The unique biodiversity of the Sahara is fa- [Top Left] A Rhim or Slender-horned gazelle cing a tremendous crisis due to unmanaged (Gazella leptoceros loderi) on sand dunes, hunting and habitat destruction. In compa- Great Erg Oriental, Tunisia. This endangered rison to other ecosystems, the endangered species has suffered through habitat loss and fauna and flora of the desert doesn’t seem to warfare. It is hunted for meat and its horns make the news or draw much attention. are sold as ornaments. [Left] Desert monitor (Varanus griseus) mo- [Above] A brown-necked raven (Corvus ving across sand dunes in the Sahara. Active ruficollis) sits atop a dune in the early mor- during the day, desert monitors range over ning. Dawn in the Sahara is magical, and I large distances, usually between 5-6km, re- was often greeted with scenes like this when turning to their burrow before sunset. 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 pho- tographed before. I can’t describe my exci- tement. If seeing a fennec fox was my child- hood 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 fennec behaviour on camera proved to be grail” and I was determined to protect the super hard. The secrecy of the adult female site, by keeping it a closely guarded secret. I and the unpredictable weather afforded me was extremely careful to avoid leading other just a handful of successful sessions with the people or predators to the den with my tracks foxes from all the many attempts I made. and approached the site always in the middle One time, a sandstorm kept me inside for 10 of the day, when the foxes were asleep, so days, and when I was finally able to emerge, I that I wouldn’t disturb them. discovered that the fennecs had moved their Despite this great breakthrough, capturing 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 noctur- nal 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 invertebrate burrow in the desert, at the much more easily than people can! To pho- border between Tunisia and Algeria. After tograph their nocturnal habits, I had to use several nights of leaving the camera trap in camera trap set-ups, equipped with strobe place, a fox eventually tripped the infrared lights. It took me weeks just to figure out the beam. I later discovered that only one of the foxes’ routines and choose the right spots two strobes had fired, because gerbils had to place my equipment, but the results were gnawed the cables connecting the second hugely rewarding. The fox above took a self- one! Together with political unrest, sand portrait when it crossed the invisible infrared storms and poachers, this was just one of the beam of a camera trap placed along a trail I many challenges I faced while working with discovered through the desert dunes.