Red fox
Vulpes vulpes
A dog-like predator with rusty-red fur, black-backed ears, and often a white-tipped tail. It is a resident species in Georgia.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Diet
Omnivore
Status in Georgia
Resident
Size
45–90 cm
Habitat
Woodland edge / open country
Family
Canidae
Conservation
LC
Human interaction: It has no venom. It can bite. In Georgia it is named among wild carnivores that can carry rabies. Do not feed or handle it. Keep dogs vaccinated.
Overview
What is Red fox
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a mammal in the dog family (Canidae). It is the largest true fox (genus Vulpes) and the most widely distributed member of the order Carnivora. IUCN lists Georgia in the native range. It appears on national mammal checklists. At species level, head–body length is about 45–90 cm, the tail 30–55 cm, and mass often 3–14 kg. It has no venom. The main human risk is a bite and rabies, not poison. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List.
Last updated
Gallery
Red fox in photos
Photo: ზაური ხაჩიძე
Photo: Uoaei1
Mallnitz ·
Photo: ClaudiaTen
Rautas ·
Photo: Alexis Lours
Gennevilliers ·
Photo: Ken Billington
Photo: Divlja Srbija
Identification
How to identify Red fox
A medium-sized dog-like predator with a rusty-red back, black ear backs, black lower legs, and often a white tail tip. It is resident in Georgia.
- 01
At species level head–body is about 45–90 cm, tail 30–55 cm, shoulder height about 35–50 cm, mass often 3–14 kg. Males are usually slightly larger than females. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page. The muzzle is slender, the ears erect, and the pupils vertically oval.
- 02
Typical colour is rusty-red on the back, with a paler throat and belly. The backs of the ears and the lower legs are usually black. The tail is bushy; a white tip is a useful mark when present, but some individuals have a dark tip. Dark (“silver”) and cross-coloured morphs occur but are uncommon.
- 03
The golden jackal (Canis aureus) also occurs in Georgia: taller, more uniformly yellowish-grey, with a shorter tail and without a white tail tip. The wolf (Canis lupus) is much larger and longer-legged and does not look like a red fox. Compared with a dog, a fox has a finer muzzle, a smaller print, and often a straighter trail. The corsac fox (Vulpes corsac) is recorded in the Caucasus only from arid parts of the North Caucasus and is not accepted here as part of Georgia’s fauna. This atlas does not yet have separate pages for jackal or wolf.
- 04
It is not venomous. A bite or saliva can carry rabies risk. Do not handle it, especially if an animal approaches without fear, seems disoriented, or is aggressive. Daytime activity can also be normal.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look for it at woodland edges, scrub, farmland, grassland, foothills, and the margins of settlements. Species-level habitat is very broad: forest, open country, mountains even above the treeline, coasts, and suburban areas. IUCN notes elevations to about 4,500 m; a Georgia-specific elevation range is not published on this page. This page does not map administrative regions. Country occurrence is confirmed, but a municipality-by-municipality list is not compiled here. A named Georgian locality is the Iori floodplain hunting farm (2020 management plan). Do not assume even density across the whole country.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. Across the range it is an opportunistic omnivore: mainly small mammals (especially rodents), also lagomorphs, birds, insects, fruit, carrion, and food waste near people. The realistic picture in Georgia is the same — small prey in open and semi-open country, and sometimes poultry in unprotected yards — but the local menu has not been measured here.
Behavior
It is mainly active at night and at dusk; it can also be seen by day, especially where disturbance is low or food is abundant. A daytime sighting does not by itself mean rabies. It dens in an earth, a rock crevice, or a borrowed burrow. In the breeding season it lives as a family group; at other times it often hunts alone. At species level gestation is about 51–53 days, often with 4–6 cubs, in spring. Those figures come from the wider range, not a Georgian den sample. Tracks resemble a dog’s but are more compact; the forefoot has five toes, the hind foot four, and claws often show. A white tail tip is typical but not present on every individual.
Conservation
Hoffmann and Sillero-Zubiri assess Vulpes vulpes as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2016); the population trend is stable. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Government Resolution No. 190). It is listed as a hunting species; quotas and seasons are set by agency documents and are not copied here as current numbers. It is not on CITES appendices at species level, except for a few Asian subspecies that do not apply to Georgia. Local pressures can include hunting, road mortality, and conflict over poultry; a national trend is not measured on this page. Do not handle wild animals.
Yes. IUCN lists it as native in Georgia. It is on national mammal checklists and on the list of hunting species.
At woodland edges, in scrub, on farmland, in foothills, and at the edge of settlements, at any time of year. This page has no municipality list. A named site is the Iori floodplain hunting farm. The atlas map is not coloured.
Rusty-red back, black ear backs, black lower legs, a bushy tail often with a white tip, and a slender muzzle. A golden jackal is more yellowish-grey with a shorter tail; a wolf is much larger.
At species level head–body is about 45–90 cm, tail 30–55 cm, mass often 3–14 kg. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page.
Mainly small mammals, also birds, insects, fruit, and carrion. Diet has not been studied separately in Georgia on this page.
Mainly at night and at dusk. It can also appear by day. It is resident and does not migrate like many birds.
It is not venomous. It can bite. In Georgia it is named among wild carnivores that can carry rabies. Do not handle it. After a bite, wash the wound and seek medical care.
It is globally Least Concern and is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. It is a hunting species; season and quota are set by official rules.
- Hoffmann & Sillero-Zubiri 2016 — IUCN Red List, Vulpes vulpes
- Bukhnikashvili & Kandaurov 2002 — The annotated list of mammals of Georgia
- Eliava et al. 2007 — New data on animal biodiversity of Georgia
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- ნადირობას დაქვემდებარებული სახეობები — Vulpes vulpes
- იორის ჭალები — სამონადირეო მეურნეობის მართვის გეგმა (2020)
- Larivière & Pasitschniak-Arts 1996 — Mammalian Species 537, Vulpes vulpes
- EUNIS — Vulpes vulpes
- ASM Mammal Diversity Database — Vulpes vulpes
- Experimental and Clinical Medicine 2024 — Rabies in Georgia at the modern stage
- Gurielidze et al. 2021 — Grey wolf and golden jackal in Georgia
- Baryshnikov 2012 — Pleistocene Canidae of the Caucasus
- Wikimedia Commons — Vulpes vulpes Mallnitz (Uoaei1, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Red fox, Gennevilliers (Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Red Fox (Ken Billington, CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Portrait, Rautas (ClaudiaTen, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Fox cubs (Divlja Srbija, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- xeno-canto XC1070195 — Vulpes vulpes (Paul Driver)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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