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Swift Fox |
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| Description
You are visitor # Last updated 12/6/02 |
Range
& Habitat:
Historically,
the swift fox was distributed over much of the short-grass and mid-grass
prairies, from southern Alberta to west-central Texas (Egoscue, 1979).
By 1900, swift foxes were extirpated or rare over most of their
range due to several factors, including inadvertent poisoning, intense
trapping pressure, rodent control programs, and habitat loss (Scott-Brown
et al., 1987). After 1950,
swift fox numbers apparently stabilized and recovered in some parts of
their range (Egoscue, 1979; Samuel and Nelson, 1982). At present, the
distribution of swift foxes has been dramatically reduced compared to
historic distributions, especially in the northern parts of their range,
and remains poorly documented in the southern parts of their range.
The range of swift foxes in Texas is limited to the northern and
western portions of the Panhandle Region (see Texas range map).
Vegetation in swift fox habitat is usually sparse and short,
dominated by short- and mid-grass species (Scott-Brown et al., 1987).
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