distinct territories, which they mark with urine, but not with dung as red foxes do. The territories of the members of a mated pair overlap almost completely, but are entirely separate from those of any neighboring pairs. These territories are maintained throughout the year, although the pair occupy separate dens outside of the mating season. The size of the territories varies with the local terrain, but has been reported as around in Oman, with those of males being larger, on average, than those of females. The foxes range widely during their nocturnal foraging, travelling over in a night. Its only natural predators are the steppe eagle and the eagle-owl. Diet Rüppell's foxes are omnivores, with a diet that varies considerably depending on what is locally available. In some regions, they are reported to be mainly insectivorous, especially feeding on beetles and orthopterans, while in others, small mammals, lizards, and birds form a larger part of their diet. Plants eaten include grasses and desert succulents, along with fruits such as dates, and they have also been known to scavenge from human garbage. Reproduction Mating occurs in November, a few weeks after the female has prepared her breeding den. Litters up to six kits, although more usually just two or three, are born after a gestation period around 52–53 days. The young are born blind. They reach independence at about four months, when they may travel up to in search of a suitable territory. They can live an average of seven years in the wild, but have been reported to live up to 12 years in captivity. Subspecies Although some authors consider Rüppell's fox to be monotypic, others list up to five subspecies: V. r. caesia V. r. cyrenaica V. r. rueppelli V. r. sabaea V. r. zarudneyi Philately The Libyan General Posts and Telecommunications Company (GPTC), in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature, dedicated a postal stamp issue to Rüppell's fox on May 1, 2008. The issue is made of a set of four stamps printed in minisheets of two sets. The issue was completed with a special first day of issue cover having a special postmark. References External links Picture of Rüppell's fox near Lake Nasser, Egypt. Rüppell's fox postal stamps on YouTube The 4 fox species of the UAE (Gulf News) Rüppell's fox Mammals of Western Asia Mammals of North Africa Mammals of Pakistan Mammals of the