Photo StoryPublished : Aug 21, 2023Updated : Sep 30, 2023
Threatened by habitat loss and diseases from domestic dogs, the Bengal fox is fighting a losing battle for survival
Text by: Akshay Manwani
Threatened by habitat loss and diseases from domestic dogs, the Bengal fox is fighting a losing battle for survival
Around 2016, wildlife photographer Ripan Biswas, who hails from Cooch Behar, West Bengal, used to photograph the Bengal fox (Vulpes bengalensis) very frequently. Biswas’s photographs of the Bengal fox didn’t come from visits to a protected area or a national park but were taken around human habitation. The foxes used to frequent a huge grassland full of vegetation on the bank of river Torsa that rises from Tibet and runs through Cooch Behar.
The Bengal fox or Indian fox is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Its range extends from the Himalayan foothills throughout India to the southern tip of the peninsula, but it is absent from the Northeast and Western Ghats. It is part of the Canidae family of mammals, which includes other foxes, wolves, jackals, and dogs.
In 2018, a team of like-minded researchers initiated the Wild Canids–India Project (WCIP) to consolidate countrywide information on wild canids and hyenas in India. According to WCIP, the Indian fox has a scorecard rating of “D”, meaning the species faces many threats. Elaborating on this, Dr Arjun Srivathsa (DST INSPIRE Fellow, NCBS–TIFR, Bengaluru, and associated with WCIP) said, “Indian foxes occupy less than 40 per cent of their potential habitats in India, with populations likely on the decline. The main threats they face may be habitat loss and competition with free-ranging/domestic dogs.”
This decline in the Bengal fox population is consistent with Biswas’s experience of their sightings. From seeing the species as frequently as “every dawn and dusk” between December and February from 2016 to 2018, he hardly sees them “once in ten days” now. The expansion of human habitation, increase in agricultural plantations, and sand mining are the reasons that have led to a dramatic decrease in Bengal fox sightings, according to Biswas.
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Tibetan sand fox (Vulpes ferrilata), and Bengal fox are the three fox species found in India. The Bengal fox is daintier than the red fox, and its bushy, black-tipped tail is around 50-60 per cent of its head and body length. The black tail tip also helps distinguish the Bengal fox from the morphologically similar desert fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla), a subspecies of the red fox. Photo: Akshay Manwani
Cover photo: Ripan Biswas
The Bengal fox prefers short grassland or savannah habitats. But as agricultural landscapes have replaced savannah grasslands, they are found in agricultural fields with a proper fallow period and not in heavily irrigated landscapes. According to Dr Abi Tamim Vanak (Director, Centre for Policy Design), “The [Bengal] fox’s grassland habitats need to be protected. This is the one big thing that needs to change since currently most grasslands are classified as wasteland by the government of India.” Photo: Akshay Manwani
Increasingly, Bengal foxes coexist alongside human settlements, which has led to them eating poultry waste dumped on the roadside, notes Dr Vanak. In many places around the country, foxes may use human-modified structures such as bunds, well tailings (debris piles), or irrigation pipes for denning. “Foxes can become quite bold in the presence of humans, especially when they are pups. I have seen pups walk right over to me in curiosity. This behaviour can be seen all around the country wherever they occur,” says Dr Vanak. Photo: Ripan Biswas
Girish Punjabi (Conservation Biologist at the Wildlife Conservation Trust, Mumbai) explains that rural and agricultural communities have coexisted with the Bengal fox for hundreds of years. Punjabi is part of the group of researchers at WCIP who have volunteered their time to generate scientific information related to wild canids. Specialising in researching the Bengal fox at WCIP, Punjabi points to rapid recent changes in grassland habitats. Photo: Akshay Manwani
Explaining the multiple pressures on grassland habitats, Punjabi says that the Indian fox may coinhabit a grassland pasture landscape used for grazing livestock or make a den (burrow to house pups) in a fallow field of a traditional millet farm. But if the grassland pasture gets converted to a tree plantation due to afforestation, or if a six-lane highway cuts through it, it may become difficult for the fox to inhabit the land. Monoculture tree plantations may have fewer food resources for the fox, and fragmentation of the habitat by a highway may lead to higher mortality due to roadkill. Photo: Ripan Biswas
Punjabi emphasises that education and awareness are necessary not just for rural communities that share space with the fox but also for policymakers, politicians, and land-use planners that bring in various infrastructure projects fragmenting grassland habitats. “Education is necessary at the highest levels of governance as well, so that development policies don’t write off, and eventually wipe off, these grassland specialists,” Punjabi says. Photo: Ripan Biswas
Besides habitat loss, Punjabi also points out that the other threat to the Bengal fox is mortality due to diseases and predation by free-ranging/stray dogs. “Disease is a severe threat to the Indian fox, but the risk of transmission is more from domestic dogs than cattle,” says Punjabi. “Dogs are carriers of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), or rabies. These may get transmitted to foxes resulting in their death, eventually affecting the fox population on a larger scale.” Punjabi also refers to a modelling study by Aniruddha V. Belsare and Matthew E. Gompper (2015), which found that restricting the roaming stray dog population and reducing their density in villages near grassland habitats would be an effective strategy to prevent such diseases from spilling over to the Indian fox. Photo: Ripan Biswas
Bengal foxes are thought to form monogamous pairs. Throughout most of their range, the mating season occurs in the winter (December and January), and pups are born after a two-month gestation. Both adults may participate in rearing the pups, and it is also possible that multiple females may nurse the pups.
Pups are most playful and energetic during the first few months but also risk high mortality during this period. They are fully weaned about three to four months after emerging from the den. Photos: Ripan Biswas
Seen eating a bush cricket grub here, the Bengal fox plays an important role in the grassland ecosystem. “Since the diet of the fox comprises rodents, invertebrates, and fruits among other resources, the species may help in controlling the rodent population (benefitting farmers) and dispersing seeds of native plant species such as Zizyphus,” explains Punjabi. This benefits the plant as well as other species that eat its fruits. Therefore, the Bengal fox’s disappearance may affect the entire ecosystem. Photo: Ripan Biswas
About the contributors
Akshay Manwani
is a wildlife photographer, founder of Ochre & Green Safaris and the author of The Tiger, the Bear and the battle for Mahovann. He lives in Mumbai.
Ripan Biswas
is an award-winning nature photographer from Coochbehar, West Bengal, with a keen interest in macro fauna.
