Swift fox
Vulpes velox (Say, 1823)
The swift fox (Vulpes velox) is a mammal in the family Canidae, within the order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial, nocturnal carnivore with an adult body mass of 2.2 kg, with reported values from 2.088 to 2.4 kg.
Quick facts about the swift fox
The swift fox reaches sexual maturity at 1 year, has a lifespan of 15.89 years with reported values up to 20 years, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 2.09 kg – 2.4 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 15.9 years – 20 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desert, grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 53.7 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3 – 6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the swift fox
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Where does the swift fox live?
Not recorded
What is the swift fox?
The swift fox (Vulpes velox) is a small light orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western Great Plains grasslands of North America, such as Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It also lives in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada, where it was previously extirpated. It is closely related to the kit fox (V. macrotis) and some mammalogists classify them as conspecific. However, molecular systematics imply that the two species are distinct. 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.
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.
Like most canids, the swift fox is an omnivore, and its diet includes grasses and fruits 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.
From the Wikipedia article “Swift fox” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swift_fox&oldid=1384735542), 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 swift fox endangered?
The swift fox is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- 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 Least Concern species.
How is the swift fox classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyCanidae
- genusVulpes
- SpeciesVulpes velox (Say, 1823)
Synonyms Canis velox, Vulpes velox hebes, Vulpes velox velox
Other names and names in other languages (36)
- Vinnige VosAfrikaans
- ثعلب سريعArabic
- Rabosa velozAragonese
- liška šedohnědáCzech
- prærierævDanish
- FlinkfuchsGerman
- KitfuchsGerman
- SwiftfuchsGerman
- Θοή ΑλεπούGreek
- Zorra desérticaSpanish
- Zorro desérticoSpanish
- Väle rebaneEstonian
- KissakettuFinnish
- preeriakettuFinnish
- Renard VéloceFrench
- שועל קיטHebrew
- prérirókaHungarian
- Ամերիկյան դաշտաղվեսArmenian
- Volpe veloceItalian
- Volpe americanaItalian
- スウィフトギツネJapanese
- 스위프트여우Korean
- KatterevNorwegian Bokmål
- PrærierevNorwegian Bokmål
- SletterevNorwegian Bokmål
- SwiftrevNorwegian Bokmål
- KitvosDutch
- SwiftvosDutch
- Lis płowyPolish
- Raposa-orelhudaPortuguese
- Vulpe de prerieRomanian
- Vulpe de preerieRomanian
- Американский корсакRussian
- PräriekatträvSwedish
- ova tilkisiTurkish
- Лисиця прудкаUkrainian
Relatives of the swift fox
Other species in the same genus Vulpes.
Red fox
Vulpes vulpes
Fennec fox
Vulpes zerda
Corsac fox
Vulpes corsac
Bengal fox
Vulpes bengalensis
Cape fox
Vulpes chama
Tibetan fox
Vulpes ferrilata
CompareSwift fox vs Red foxSwift fox vs Fennec foxSwift fox vs Corsac foxSwift fox vs Bengal 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 the swift fox?
The swift fox is a mammal in the family Canidae and the order Carnivora. It is terrestrial and nocturnal.
How much does a swift fox weigh?
An adult Swift fox weighs 2.2 kg, with reported values from 2.088 to 2.4 kg.
What does the swift fox eat?
The swift fox is a carnivore.
Is the swift fox endangered?
No. The swift fox is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a swift fox live?
The swift fox has a lifespan of 15.89 years, with reported values up to 20 years.
How many young does a swift fox have?
A swift fox has 4.44 young per litter, with reported litter sizes from 3 to 6, and 1 litter per year after a gestation period of 53.7 days.
Who named the swift fox?
The swift fox, Vulpes velox, was named by Say in 1823.
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). Swift fox (Vulpes velox). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swift-fox
“Swift fox (Vulpes velox).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swift-fox.
@misc{swift_fox_2026,
title = {Swift fox (Vulpes velox)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swift-fox},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}