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2. First quantitative data on the diet of the fennec fox, Vulpes zerda (Canidae, Carnivora), in Algeria

Creator:
Brahmi, Karima, Kheckekhouche, El Amin, Mostefaoui, Otman, Doumandji, Salaheddine, Baziz, Belkacem, and Aulagnier, Stéphane
Type:
article, model:article, and TEXT
Subject:
canid, feeding ecology, prey, plant, Sahara, and North Africa
Language:
English
Description:
The diet of fennec fox has been investigated for the first time from scats collected during one year in three localities of the north-eastern Algerian Sahara: Guemar and Sanderouce (near Oued Souf) and Bamendil (near Ouargla). In Guemar, 160 items in 20 scats were identified including 93 insects (58.1 %), 11 plant fragments (6.9 %) and 38 dates of Phoenix dactylifera (23.8 %). In terms of biomass, with 37.4 % plant material was the most abundant, followed by birds (29.9 %) and mammals (14.9 %). In Sanderouce, 491 items in 37 scats were identified including 377 insects (77.1 %), 10 plant fragments (2.0 %) and 29 dates (5.9 %). In terms of biomass mammals (56.6 %) were far more abundant than squamates (15.4 %) and vegetal food (12.8 %). In Bamendil, 1246 items in 57 scats were identified; insects were the most numerous (87.9 %) followed by mammals (only 3.7 %), however the biomass of mammals was the highest (63.5 %) followed by birds (19.8 %) and insects (5.5 %). As was suggested by behavioural records, the diet of the fennec fox was mainly carnivorous, but included a significant amount of vegetal items, particularly dates collected in oases.
Rights:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ and policy:public