Editing Swift fox (section)

{{short description|Species of mammal}}
{{Good article}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Swift fox<ref name=msw3/>
| image = Swift Fox Colorado Wolf and Wildlife cropped.jpg
| image_caption = Swift fox at Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Rescue Center
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Moehrenschlager, A. |author2=Sovada, M. |date=2016 |title=''Vulpes velox'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T23059A57629306 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T23059A57629306.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Vulpes
| species = velox
| authority = ([[Thomas Say|Say]], 1823)
| synonyms =
*''Vulpes velox hebes'' Merriam, 1902
| range_map = Vulpes velox map.svg
| range_map_caption = Swift fox range
}}

The '''swift fox''' ('''''Vulpes velox''''') is a small light orange-tan [[fox]] around the size of a [[domestic cat]] found in the western grasslands of [[North America]], such as [[Montana]], [[Colorado]], [[New Mexico]], [[Kansas]], [[Oklahoma]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caire |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofoklahom0000unse |title=The Mammals of Oklahoma |publisher=The University of Oklahoma Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0806122175 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mammalsofoklahom0000unse/page/30 30], [https://archive.org/details/mammalsofoklahom0000unse/page/288 288]–291 |url-access=limited}}</ref>  and [[Texas]].<ref name="msw3">{{MSW3 Wozencraft|id = 14000891}}</ref> It also lives in southern [[Manitoba]], [[Saskatchewan]] and [[Alberta]] in [[Canada]], where it was previously [[Local extinction|extirpated]].<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It is closely related to the [[kit fox]] (''V. macrotis'') and some mammalogists classify them as [[conspecific]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dragoo |first1=Jerry W. |last2=Choate |first2=Jerry R. |last3=Yates |first3=Terry L. |last4=O'Farrell |first4=Thomas P. |title=Evolutionary and Taxonomic Relationships among North American Arid-Land Foxes |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=August 28, 1990 |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=318–332|doi=10.2307/1381942 |jstor=1381942 |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-abstract/71/3/318/847127 |access-date=22 December 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, molecular systematics imply that the two species are distinct.<ref name="MercureRalls1993">{{cite journal|last1=Mercure|first1=Alan|last2=Ralls|first2=Katherine|last3=Koepfli|first3=Klaus P.|last4=Wayne|first4=Robert K.|title=Genetic Subdivisions among Small Canids: Mitochondrial DNA Differentiation of Swift, Kit, and Arctic Foxes|journal=Evolution|volume=47|issue=5|year=1993|pages=1313–1328|doi=10.2307/2410150 |pmid=28564903|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271806502|jstor=2410150}}</ref> Interbreeding between the two species does occur where their ranges overlap (eastern New Mexico and western Texas), but this hybridization is quite restricted in scope.<ref name="Sheldon1992">{{cite book |last1=Sheldon |first1=Jennifer W. |title=Wild dogs: the natural history of the non-domestic Canidae |date=1992 |publisher=Academic Press |location=San Diego |isbn=9781483263694 |pages=176–182}}</ref>

The swift fox lives primarily in short-grass prairies and deserts. It became nearly extinct in the 1930s as a result of predator control programs, but was successfully reintroduced later. Currently, the conservation status of the species is considered by the [[IUCN]] as [[Least Concern]] owing to stable populations elsewhere.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

Like most canids, the swift fox is an [[omnivore]], and its diet includes grasses and [[fruit]]s as well as small mammals, [[carrion]], and insects. In the wild, its lifespan is 3 to 6 years, and it breeds once annually, from late December to March, depending on the geographic region. Pups are born anywhere from March to mid-May, and are weaned at six to seven weeks old.