Darwins fox is always known as Darwins zorro, zorro chilote or zorro Darwin and is an endangered canid. It is found in a few places in Chile and san pedro island off the coast (these two populations have been split for 15,000 years since the melting of a glacier, and are now genetically distinct enough to be considered subspecies. It tends to live in forests in its range,
The Darwins fox has a wide ranging diet. In dense forests, the fox hunts mammals, reptiles, beetles and invertebrates. Elsewhere it eats fruits berries and seeds, Birds and amphibians are also eaten if the opportunity arises, it will also eat carrion although most of its diet is live animals and fruit – as such it is mostly an omnivore, and sometimes a scavenger.
Also known as the Culpeo zorro, Andean Zorro, Andean Fox Paramo wolf, Andean wolf or the Colpeo fox, this canid is actually not a fox, but more closely related to wolves and jackals. It should be noted, however, that due to convergent evolution, it does look more like a fox. This is the same for all of the South American foxes.
Culpeo taken by Vakovlex, Alexey from Moscow, Russia
Mostly it eats rodents, rabbits, birds and lizards, though it will also eat plant material and carrion. They will occasionally predate Andean flamingos as well as baby vicuna. It will also occasionally take sheep which has lead to it often being hunted or poisoned. In some areas it has become rare, but across its range there is no threat of extinction.
It has been domesticated by the Selk’nam people of Tierra del Fuego, which has resulted in the Fuegian dog, which became extinct around the turn of the 20th century.
