Darwin's fox
Lycalopex fulvipes (Martin, 1837)
Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes), also called Darwin's zorro, is a mammal in the family Canidae and the order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, nocturnal and terrestrial carnivore with an adult body mass of 3.99 kg.
Quick facts about the darwin's fox
Gestation lasts 56 days, a litter has 4.17 young on average in our sources, and the lifespan given is 10.9 years. The IUCN Red List assesses Darwin's fox globally as Endangered (EN), a threatened category.
- Weight
- 3.99 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 10.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 56.3 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.17src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the darwin's fox
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the darwin's fox live?
Not recorded
What is the darwin's fox?
Darwin's fox or Darwin's zorro (Lycalopex fulvipes) is an endangered canid from the genus Lycalopex, which is distantly related to wolves and whose members are not true foxes. It is also known as the zorro chilote or zorro de Darwin in Spanish and is endemic to Chile, where it lives in the temperate rainforests of Nahuelbuta National Park, the Cordillera de Oncol, Cordillera Pelada, and Chiloé Island. It is a small, dark-colored species that is distinguished from other Lycalopex by its shorter legs, broader head, and darker pelage.
Darwin's fox was first collected from San Pedro Island off the coast of Chile by the naturalist Charles Darwin in 1834, after whom the species is named. It was long held that Darwin's fox was a subspecies of the South American gray fox (Lycalopex griseus); however, in 1990, a small population of Darwin's fox was discovered on the mainland in Nahuelbuta National Park and subsequent genetic analysis confirmed that the fox is a distinct species.
The species is thought to number under 1,000 mature individuals, with most found on Chiloé Island and smaller populations on the mainland. Once considered Critically Endangered, it was reclassified as Endangered in 2016. Its main threats come from domestic and feral dogs, which spread diseases and attack foxes, along with human disturbance and ongoing habitat loss from agriculture and forestry activity. Conservation efforts focus on managing disease risk through vaccination and establish protected area. Future conservation strategies may involve using genetic tools.
From the Wikipedia article “Darwin's fox” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Darwin%27s_fox&oldid=1383086697), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the darwin's fox endangered?
The darwin's fox is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the darwin's fox classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyCanidae
- genusLycalopex
- SpeciesLycalopex fulvipes (Martin, 1837)
Synonyms Pseudalopex fulvipes, Vulpes fulvipes
Other names and names in other languages (27)
- Darwin's zorroEnglish
- Darwin’s foxEnglish
- Darwin’s foxEnglish
- Darwin se VosAfrikaans
- ثعلب داروينArabic
- pes DarwinůvCzech
- DarwinfuchsGerman
- Darwin-FuchsGerman
- Αλεπού του ΔαρβίνουGreek
- Zorro AzulSpanish
- Zorro ChiloteSpanish
- Zorro chilote o de DarwinSpanish
- Zorro de ChiloéSpanish
- Zorro de DarwinSpanish
- Renard de DarwinFrench
- Darwin-pamparókaHungarian
- Pseudovolpe di DarwinItalian
- ダーウィンギツネJapanese
- 다윈여우Korean
- ChiloerevNorwegian Bokmål
- DarwinsrevNorwegian Bokmål
- Darwins VosDutch
- Lis DarwinaPolish
- nibylis darwinaPolish
- Raposa-de-darwinPortuguese
- Дарвиновская лисицаRussian
- Darwin tilkisiTurkish
Relatives of the darwin's fox
Other species in the same genus Lycalopex.
Culpeo
Lycalopex culpaeus
Pampas fox
Lycalopex gymnocercus
Hoary fox
Lycalopex vetulus
South American gray fox
Lycalopex griseus
Sechuran fox
Lycalopex sechurae
CompareDarwin's fox vs CulpeoDarwin's fox vs Pampas foxDarwin's fox vs Hoary foxDarwin's fox vs South American gray fox
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is Darwin's fox?
Darwin's fox is a mammal in the family Canidae, order Carnivora. It is a nocturnal, terrestrial carnivore.
How heavy is Darwin's fox?
An adult Darwin's fox weighs 3.99 kg, which places it in the medium size class (1 to 25 kg).
What does Darwin's fox eat?
Darwin's fox is a carnivore.
Is Darwin's fox endangered?
Yes. The IUCN Red List assesses Darwin's fox globally as Endangered (EN), a threatened category.
How long does Darwin's fox live?
Our sources give a lifespan of 10.9 years for Darwin's fox.
How many young does Darwin's fox have?
Darwin's fox has 4.17 young per litter in our sources, after a gestation period of 56 days.
Who named Darwin's fox?
Darwin's fox, Lycalopex fulvipes, was named by Martin in 1837, written as (Martin, 1837).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/darwin-s-fox
“Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/darwin-s-fox.
@misc{darwin_s_fox_2026,
title = {Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/darwin-s-fox},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}