What are the main natural predators of foxes?
The fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora, family Canidae. It lives in forests, grasslands, semi-deserts and hilly areas, dwelling in tree hollows or earthen dens. It goes out at dusk to forage and returns home only at dawn. The fox's natural predators in nature include wolves, lynx, and birds of prey such as eagles and vultures. Let's take a look below!
Wolves and foxes
Wolves and foxes are incompatible; when a wolf sees a fox it will kill it, but usually it will not eat the carcass. In fact, both wolves and foxes prey on small animals, so there is competition, which is why wolves kill foxes. However, the fox itself is not the wolf's food. A wolf's experience with food is inherited from the mother wolf, and since the mother wolf does not teach her cubs to eat foxes, when they grow up they do not subconsciously regard foxes as prey, so they usually do not eat them after killing them.
An adult lynx
The lynx is a natural predator of the fox, and in a fight the fox is no match for the lynx at all. There was a report that in April 2008, in Slovenia, a newly independent subadult lynx killed and ate a large fox.
Eagles and vultures
Eagles and vultures are natural predators of foxes. Although foxes secrete saliva from their bodies to drive away some carnivores, this is ineffective against birds of prey such as eagles. In addition, there are very few areas on Earth where eagles and foxes live at the same time.