A photographer spent a couple of months documenting two families of Arabian Red Foxes close to the capital city of Kuwait
by
Mohammad Murad
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The Arabian Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes arabica) is the smallest subspecies of the Red Fox. Like most other Arabian mammals, they are smaller and lighter than their European equivalents.
The photographer came across two families near Kuwait City, each with a set of parents and five kittens. One of the dens was closer to the shore, and the other was in an old palm reserve.
Unlike in Europe, where foxes are regularly sighted close to human-inhabited spaces, in Kuwait and other Arab countries, these canids are not all that welcome. A quick search of foxes on Google (in Arabic) is bound to throw up a lot of awful videos of people harming and killing foxes.
At the same time, the Red Fox population is increasing in the Arabian Peninsula, aided in part by the increasing number of food-rich sites associated with human activity in the region.
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One of the more cosmopolitan carnivores of the Arab region, they are found in a variety of habitats, from rocky mountains to sandy deserts, coastal plains and even small offshore islands.
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Photograph of a lone Arabian Red Fox from the Doha district of Kuwait City, an area close to the shore.
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The Arabian Red Fox has a pale and short coat, with very large ears. One of the five pups was significantly smaller than the others (possibly the runt of the litter).
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But the siblings were always together, never leaving each other’s side. Over a month, I could only get a handful of shots of the smaller fox by himself.
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One of the pups pops its head outside the den, lit by the halo of the streetlights and automobile headlights in the distance.
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The cubs are weaned after seven to eight weeks, when they begin foraging with the mother before dispersing, seeking new territories.
Friday, 19 May, 2023
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Mohammad Murad is a Kuwaiti award winning photographer specialising in bird photography. He is inspired by his father who regularly took photographs and recorded videos. Mohammad aims to shine a light on Kuwait’s unexplored landscape and its diverse flora and fauna.
