Tibetan Sand Fox

{{FriendBuilder
 * introduction=The Tibetan Sand Fox is a type of mammal Friend that debuted in the original Kemono Friends mobile game. She has since appeared in the mobile games Kemono Friends Pavilion and Kemono Friends 3.
 * appearance=Tibetan Sand Fox has beige colored, neck length hair that transitions into a snow-white color past her cheeks, sometimes passing through a gray patch first. She also has two beige colored fox ears atop her head that curl up to the tips and feature long white fur within their openings. Her eyes are yellow-green and are narrowed in a very prominent gaze.

Tibetan Sand Fox wears a fluffy white colored scarf tied around her neck. She is dressed in a gray sweater vest with dark gray lines along the front opening, with what seems to be a white colored button-up suit vest with a beige gradient along the hem. Though, this may only be a single vest integrating both styles. Underneath her vest she wears a short sleeved white blouse with a plain white tie. Partially obscured by her vest is a gray colored pleated skirt. She also wears skin-tight beige gloves, the sleeves of which extend into the sleeves of her blouse and the hands of which descend into white, as well as beige colored tights that descend to white at the feet. As footwear, she sports a pair of white penny loafers.

Tibetan Sand Fox also has a bushy tail as long as her legs. It is colored white with beige and gray markings along the top, at the start and middle respectively. Tibetan Sand Fox appears in a puzzle of Kemono Friends Picross where the player can obtain a picture of the friend by solving a puzzle.
 * minor==== Kemono Friends Picross ===

Bikkuriman
Tibetan Sand Fox appears on a sticker of Bikkuriman, a line of wafer treats produced by Lotte, notable for the highly collectible stickers that come bundled with each wafer.
 * reallife=Tibet_Fox.jpg

The Tibetan Sand Fox (Vulpes ferrilata) is a species of true fox native to the Tibetan plateau, Nepal, the Ladakh region of India, and central China.

This fox was given it’s scientific name by the British naturalist Brian Hodgson in 1842. The name is made up of Latin words. Vulpes means fox and is the genus name, ferri means iron, and the last part is derived from the word latum and means wide or broad.

The Tibetan Sand Fox is indigenous to semiarid and arid upland plains mostly in the Tibetan plateau, in elevations of 2500 to 5200 meters above sea level. The majority of these habitats are at elevations greater then 3000 and 4000 meters. These areas include treeless alpine meadows, alpine steppes, and desert stepps. In these extreme climates, the temperatures can range from 86°F (30°C) during the summer to -40°F (-40°C) in the winter. This fox has adapted thick fur for protection against the harsh winter cold.

Mating is believed to happen from late February to March, and pairs are monogamous. Gestation lasts for 50-60 days. Around 2-5 kits are born in May, but in the Qinghai Province of China, kits have been observed as early as late January to early February. A later study also suggests that these foxes may mate and give birth much earlier then what is believed. Kits are born in their dens and will not leave the den until several weeks later. In one study, a male fox was observed with kits in a den, possibly indicating that males assist in raising their young.

Tibetan Sand Foxes usually hunt alone. Prey animals of this fox include plateau pikas, Himalayan marmots, and a number of miscellaneous rodents, and insects. Blue sheep and domestic yak are also sometimes scavenged as carrion. Of all the animals consumed by the Tibetan Sand Fox, the plateau pika makes up the majority of its diet and some scientists argue that the Tibetan Sand Fox is an obligate predator of the pika. Brown bears in the Tibetan plateau also primarily hunt pika, and Tibetan Sand Foxes will often follow them when they are digging up pika burrows to eat the pikas that flee from the bear. Predators to this fox include gray wolves, domestic dogs, golden eagles, and upland buzzards. In one study area, dogs were the most common cause of death for these foxes.



Sand Foxes are active during the day and at dusk, corresponding with the activity patterns of their main prey, the pika. These foxes are not known to actively defend their territories from other foxes. This fox is the main carrier of the deadly zoonosis tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis in the Tibetan plateau.

The IUCN classified the Tibetan Sand Fox as Least Concern in their 2014 conservation assessment of the species. The population trend is unknown, but the fox is believed to be widespread in most of its range and faces no major threats. However, Chinese government agricultural pest control measures against pikas, an important prey animal, could potentially endanger the Tibetan Fox in the future if pika numbers are reduced enough. The population of Tibetan Sand Fox is generally low in density, but higher densities of foxes occur in areas of abundant prey and low hunting pressure from humans. The species occurs in several legally protected nature reserves in China. The Tibetan Sand Fox is sometimes hunted by humans for its pelt, but it is of little value, so this is not common. }}