Andean Fox, known as Culpeo Fox, Red Fox (northern Ecuador), is the second largest living canid in South America, surpassed only by the maned wolf or aguará guazú. Both legs and head are reddish; the belly, neck and mouth are white; and the back is gray with black stripes. The tail is densely populated with gray hairs, which turn black towards the tip. There are sightings of completely albino specimens. Specimens from the South American mainland weigh between 8 and 11 kg, but the subspecies from Tierra del Fuego (L. c. lycoides) is significantly larger, reaching 14 kg.
- Conservation Status : Near Threatened
- Habitat : Paramo (High-altitude Grassland), High-Altitude Andean Forests
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Carnivora
- Family: Canidae
- Genus: Lycalopex
Diet
It feeds on rodents, hares, birds and lizards; to a lesser extent it consumes plants and carrion.
Colors
Reddish, white, gray, black
Fun Facts
Solitary attacks of the Fuegian red fox (which has respectable body dimensions) have been observed to hunt young and even sub-adult guanacos, with a disparity between predator and prey of 14 kg and up to 40 kg in the young guanaco.