Blanford's fox inhabits semiarid regions, steppes, and mountains of Afghanistan, Egypt, Turkestan, northeast Iran, southwest Pakistan, the West Bank, and Israel. It may also live throughout Arabia, as one was trapped in Dhofari region of Oman in 1984. Recent camera trapping surveys have confirmed the presence of the species in several places in the mountains of South Sinai, Egypt, the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah and Jebel Hafeet in the UAE, and in Saudi Arabia. Blanford's fox possesses hairless footpads and cat-like, curved, sharp claws described by some authors as semiretractile. This fox has an ability to climb rocks and make jumps described as "astonishing", jumping to ledges above them with ease, and as part of their regular movements and climbing vertical, crumbling cliffs by a series of jumps up vertical sections. The foxes use their sharp, curved claws and naked footpads for traction on narrow ledges and their long, bushy tails as a counterbalance.
Appearance
Like all desert foxes, the Blanford's fox has large ears which enables it to dissipate heat. However, unlike other desert foxes, it does not have pads covered with hair, which would otherwise protect its paws from hot sand. Its tail is almost equal in length to its body. Its coat is light tan, with white underparts and a black tip on the tail. Among all extant canids, only the fennec fox is smaller than Blanford's.
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Behaviour and ecology
Diet
Omnivorous, and more frugivorous than other foxes. It prefers seedless grapes, ripe melons and Russian chives when consuming domestic crops. In addition, it eats insects. The Biblicalfoxes in the vineyard mentioned in the Song of Songs 2:15, described as "little foxex who roun the vineyards" are most probably the frugivorous Blanford's foxes.
Longevity: Generally 4–5 years, but reported to live up to 10 years.
Sustainability
While the IUCN has downgraded Blanford's fox to "least concern" as more has been learned about the breadth of its distribution across the Middle East, very little is known about this species and its vulnerabilities to the diseases of domesticated dogs that have so badly affected other canids. Currently, little competition exists with humans for habitat, and the fox is a protected species in Israel and protected from hunting in Oman and Yemen. Some fur hunting occurs in Afghanistan, and occasionally they may take poison intended for hyenas and other species.
