No other wild dog can endure the challenges of the Sahara Desert like the world’s smallest canid, the fennec fox. The fennec fox is not only built for the harsh desert but has learned to thrive in it.
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TRANSCRIPT
- [Narrator] Home sweet home for a pair of fennecs.
They have shelter from the worst of the heat, but they must eventually leave the safety of their den to find food, and this enormous desert is a dangerous place for a tiny wild dog.
An unwary fennec is small enough to be caught by feral dogs and even eagle owls, but their sand-colored coats make them less conspicuous.
In the fading light of dusk, she makes a run for it.
Zig-zagging and jumping, she uses the dunes to mask her location.
The grains of sand are constantly shifting, but the pads on her feet are furry for maximum traction.
Few can keep tabs on her whereabouts.
But with night falling, the heat-radiating sands turn cold.
Temperatures plummet to below freezing.
The sudden cold is potentially worse than the heat, but the fennec's inner coat is insulated.
(footsteps pattering) Set for the night, she can search for food.
Small bodies don't need much, and by being omnivorous, fennecs can find enough to eat.
Insects, berries, roots, every scrap is on the menu.
There may be food, but there's no water.
Thankfully, her kidneys are so efficient, she's the one dog that doesn't need to drink.
She can get all the water she needs from the food she eats, even the tiniest spider.
The fennec evolved as the desert first appeared, 4 million years ago.
No other canid can so completely endure the challenges here.
So this smallest of wild dogs is not only built for this harsh desert, she's the only one to have tamed it.
