Is the red fox in the Greater Khingan Mountains a protected animal? A detailed explanation of its appearance and existing population

The red fox generally refers to the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), usually with brownish-yellow or tending-to-brownish-red fur on its back, or brownish-white. Recently, forest rangers in the Greater Khingan Mountains of Heilongjiang Province spotted one.So is the red fox in the Greater Khingan Mountains a protected animal? What does it look like? How many are there now?

1. Is the red fox in the Greater Khingan Mountains a protected animal?

The red fox is fairly widely distributed in Tibet, China, but is rarely seen in the forest areas of the Greater Khingan Mountains. In recent years, the number of red foxes has declined sharply, and it is a second-class key protected animal of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

2. What does the red fox in the Greater Khingan Mountains look like?

1. Eyes

The eyes of the red fox in the Greater Khingan Mountains are suited to seeing at night; in bright light the pupils become as small as a needle's eye, but because the bottom of the eyeball has special crystal points with extremely strong reflectivity that can combine weak light into a beam and reflect it out in a concentrated way, they often shine brightly in the dark of night.

2. Body shape

The red fox is the largest and most common fox, with an adult body length of about 70 cm. Its overall form is slender, but its limbs are relatively short. The tail is more than half the length of the body, and is thick and covered with fluffy long fur.

3. Fur color

The red fox found this time in the Greater Khingan Mountains in Heilongjiang was fiery red all over, an adult red fox. Others are brownish-yellow or brownish-white. In addition, among red foxes there are also many color variant types, such as those whose whole body fur is black, called black foxes or dusky foxes, and so on.

3. How many red foxes are there in the Greater Khingan Mountains now?

Wild foxes can be seen every year in the Greater Khingan Mountains, but most are yellow or yellow-and-black, and a fox as fiery red as this one was discovered for the first time, so the exact number is not yet known. However, as the ecological environment of the Greater Khingan Mountains has been greatly improved, the living space for rare wild animals and plants is constantly getting better, and in October 2018, in Beiji Village, Mohe City, in the Greater Khingan Mountains, a rare wild animal was discovered for the first time in 20 years —— the sable, a first-class national protected animal.

Although only one red fox was found this time, it is believed that as the environment gets better and better and protection measures get better and better, more and more red foxes and other wild animals will be discovered in the future.