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The '''red fox''' ('''''Vulpes vulpes''''') is the largest of the [[true fox]]es and one of the most widely distributed members of the order [[Carnivora]], being present across the entire [[Northern Hemisphere]] including most of [[North America]], [[Europe]] and [[Asia]], plus parts of [[North Africa]]. It is listed as [[least concern]] on the [[IUCN Red List]].<ref name=IUCN/> Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been [[Foxes in Australia|introduced to Australia]], where it is considered harmful to native
The red fox originated in Eurasia during the [[Middle Pleistocene]] at least 400,000 years ago<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bartolini Lucenti |first1=Saverio |last2=Madurell-Malapeira |first2=Joan |date=May 2020 |title=Unraveling the fossil record of foxes: An updated review on the Plio-Pleistocene Vulpes spp. from Europe |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379120302584 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=236 |pages=106296 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106296|bibcode=2020QSRv..23606296B }}</ref> and later colonised North America sometime prior to 130,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kutschera |first1=Verena E |last2=Lecomte |first2=Nicolas |last3=Janke |first3=Axel |last4=Selva |first4=Nuria |last5=Sokolov |first5=Alexander A |last6=Haun |first6=Timm |last7=Steyer |first7=Katharina |last8=Nowak |first8=Carsten |last9=Hailer |first9=Frank |date=2013 |title=A range-wide synthesis and timeline for phylogeographic events in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=114 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-13-114 |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=3689046 |pmid=23738594|bibcode=2013BMCEE..13..114K }}</ref> Among the true foxes, the red fox represents a more progressive form in the direction of [[Carnivore|carnivory]].<ref name="mammals-of-ussr">{{cite book |last1=Heptner |first1=V. G. |last2=Naumov |first2=N. P. |title=Mammals of the Soviet Union |date=1998 |pages=115, 341–365, 453–502, 513–562 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-1886106819 |url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofsov211998gept/page/115}}</ref> Apart from its large size, the red fox is distinguished from other fox species by its ability to adapt quickly to new environments. Despite its name, the species often produces individuals with other colourings, including [[Leucism|leucistic]] and [[Melanism|melanistic]] individuals.<ref name="mammals-of-ussr"/> Forty-five [[subspecies]] are currently recognised,<ref name=msw3/> which are divided into two categories: the large northern foxes and the small, [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] southern grey desert foxes of Asia and North Africa.<ref name="mammals-of-ussr"/>
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==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:RedFox.png|thumbnail|Multi-coloured North American red fox]]
[[File:Red fox in filfla Commune, skikda, Algeria.jpg|thumb|Red fox with winter fur in [[Filfla, Algeria]]]]
The red fox is a wide-ranging species. Its range covers nearly {{cvt|70000000|km2}} including as far north as the Arctic Circle. It occurs all across Europe, in Africa north of the Sahara Desert, throughout Asia apart from extreme Southeast Asia, and across North America apart from most of the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is absent in [[Greenland]], [[Iceland]], the Arctic islands, the most northern parts of central [[Siberia]], and in extreme deserts.<ref name=IUCN/>
It is not present in [[New Zealand]] and is classed as a "prohibited new organism" under the [[Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996]], which does not allow import.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1996/0030/latest/DLM386556.html#DLM386556 |title=Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 2003 – Schedule 2 Prohibited new organisms |publisher=New Zealand Government |access-date=26 January 2012 |archive-date=16 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616104517/http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1996/0030/latest/DLM386556.html#DLM386556 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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{{Main|Feral foxes in Australia}}
In Australia, estimates in 2012 indicated that there were more than 7.2 million red foxes,<ref>{{cite web |url=http:/./www.gamecouncil.nsw.gov.au/portal.asp?p=Ferals1 |title=Impacts of Feral Animals |access-date=29 May 2012 |publisher=Game Council of New South Wales |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418154902/http://www.gamecouncil.nsw.gov.au/portal.asp?p=Ferals1 |archive-date=18 April 2012}}</ref> with a range extending throughout most of the continental mainland.<ref name=rwf1987/>{{rp|14}} They became established in Australia through successive introductions in the 1830s and 1840s, by settlers in the British colonies of [[Van Diemen's Land]] (as early as 1833) and the [[Port Phillip District]] of New South Wales (as early as 1845), who wanted to foster the traditional English sport of [[fox hunting]]. A permanent red fox population did not establish itself on the island of [[Tasmania]], and it is widely held that foxes were out-competed by the [[Tasmanian devil]].<ref name=Bostanci2005>{{Cite journal |last1=Bostanci |first1=A. |title=Wildlife Biology: A Devil of a Disease |doi=10.1126/science.307.5712.1035 |journal=Science |volume=307 |issue=5712 |page=1035 |year=2005 |pmid=15718445|s2cid=54100368 }}</ref> On the mainland, however, the species was successful as an [[apex predator]]. The fox is generally less common in areas where the [[dingo]] is more prevalent, but it has, primarily through its burrowing behaviour, achieved [[niche differentiation]] with both the [[free-ranging dog|feral dog]] and the [[feral cat]]. Consequently, the fox has become one of the continent's most destructive invasive species.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
The red fox has been implicated in the extinction or decline of several native Australian species, particularly those of the family [[Potoroidae]], including the [[desert rat-kangaroo]].<ref name='Biological Conservation 1998-09-13'>{{Cite journal | last1 = Short | first1 = J. | title = The extinction of rat-kangaroos (Marsupialia: Potoroidae) in New South Wales, Australia | doi = 10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00026-3 | journal = Biological Conservation | volume = 86 | issue = 3 | pages = 365–377| year = 1998| bibcode = 1998BCons..86..365S }}</ref> The spread of red foxes across the southern part of the continent has coincided with the spread of [[rabbits in Australia]], and corresponds with declines in the distribution of several medium-sized ground-dwelling mammals, including [[Woylie|brush-tailed bettong]]s, [[Boodie|burrowing bettong]]s, [[rufous bettong]]s, [[bilbies]], [[numbat]]s, [[Bridled nail-tail wallaby|bridled nail-tail wallabies]] and [[quokka]]s.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/pestsweeds/RedfoxApproved.pdf |title=Threat Abatement Plan for Predation by the Red Fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') |year=2001 |publisher=NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service |isbn=0731364244 |access-date=25 September 2010 |archive-date=17 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317045658/http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/pestsweeds/RedfoxApproved.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Most of those species are now limited to areas (such as islands) where red foxes are absent or rare. Local fox eradication programs exist, although elimination has proven difficult due to the fox's denning behaviour and nocturnal hunting, so the focus is on management, including the introduction of state bounties.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Millen, Tracey |date=October–November 2006 |title=Call for more dingoes to restore native species |journal=[[ECOS (CSIRO magazine)|ECOS]] |volume=133 |url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=EC133p5a.pdf |access-date=9 March 2007 |archive-date=16 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416060335/http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file |url-status=live }} (Refers to the book ''Australia's Mammal Extinctions: A 50,000 Year History''. Christopher N. Johnson. {{ISBN|978-0-521-68660-0}}.)</ref> According to the Tasmanian government, red foxes were accidentally introduced to the previously fox-free island of Tasmania in 1999 or 2000, posing a significant threat to native wildlife, including the [[eastern bettong]], and an eradication program was initiated, conducted by the Tasmanian [[Department of Primary Industries and Water]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Latest Physical Evidence of Foxes in Tasmania |work=Department of Primary Industries and Water, Tasmania website |url=http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/LJEM-6SH7FX?open |date=18 July 2013 |access-date=20 September 2013 |archive-date=21 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054610/http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/LJEM-6SH7FX?open |url-status=live }}</ref>
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