Swift Fox

This beautiful little, cat-sized, endangered Swift Fox resides at the Calgary Zoo. I was finally lucky enough to see it, after many Zoo visits. Constantly on the move while I was there, so almost impossible to photograph : ). As you might guess, this was not the composition I would have liked, but was what I got!

"Historically, Swift Foxes were found throughout southern Alberta, ranging north to the 53rd parallel, west to the Foothills and Rocky Mountains, and east to the Saskatchewan border. A rapid decline in abundance occurred during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with the last verified sighting of a Swift Fox in Alberta reported in 1938 near Manyberries. Beginning in 1983, Swift Foxes have been released in the Alberta/Saskatchewan border area as part of an intensive reintroduction program. In 1989, Swift Foxes were also released into the Milk River Ridge area in Alberta.

Swift Fox populations have been established in the area bounded in the west by Manyberries, Alberta (48 kilometres from the Alberta- Saskatchewan border) and in the east by Consul, Saskatchewan (35 kilometres west of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border). The Milk River area has not been surveyed recently and it unlikely that a Swift Fox population continues to survive in the area." From www.abheritage.ca/abnature.