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October Feature: Foxes
Although red fox populations suffer from occasional rabies outbreaks, they appear
to recover swiftly. Switzerland, France, and several other European countries now
control rabies with an oral vaccine which is concealed in fox bait. Although fur
farming for the animals' rich red pelt has become widespread, hunters continue to
trap wild foxes. During the 1980s, over 500,000 red fox pelts (wild and farmed) per
year were sold for an average US$42.50 each.
Other foxes hunted or farmed for their fur are: the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus), the
grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), the swift or kit fox (Vulpes velox), the
grey zorro in Chile and Argentina (Dusicyon griseus), and the South American
Azara's zorro (Dusicyon gymnocercus), found in Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and
Argentina. The trade in grey zorro pelts is greater than that of any other canid
species listed in CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora).
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