Lycalopex vetulus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The hoary fox or hoary zorro (Lycalopex vetulus), also known as raposinha-do-campo in Brazil (Portuguese for "little fox of the meadow"), is a species of zorro or "false" fox endemic to Brazil. Unlike many other foxes, it feeds primarily on small invertebrates such as insects.
The hoary fox has a short muzzle, small teeth, a short coat, and slender limbs. The upper part of the body is grey, and the underside of the body is cream or fawn. The tail is black on the tip with a marked dark stripe along the upper surface, which in male animals may extend all the way along the back to the nape of the neck. The ears and outside part of the legs are reddish or tawny, and the lower jaw is black. Some melanistic individuals have also been reported.
It is small for a fox, weighing only 3 to 4 kg (6.6 to 8.8 lb), with a head and body length of 58 to 72 cm (23 to 28 in), and a tail 25 to 36 cm (9.8 to 14.2 in). Together with its slender form, the small size of the hoary fox makes it an agile and fast-running animal, while its relatively weak teeth adapt it to feeding on invertebrates, rather than larger prey.
Hoary foxes are nocturnal, and largely solitary... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | São Paulo Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Zoológico de Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Parque Ecológico de São Carlos | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Zoo Americana / Parque Ecológico Municipal | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Hoary Fox sighting in Emas National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 15 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Hoary Fox in Emas National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, August and October–April, the lowest months. That is one of Emas National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 190 mm in January.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hoary Fox sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Emas National Park, in our data
Emas National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Hoary Fox sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Canidae
The closest relatives of the Hoary Fox that you can see in Emas National Park (family Canidae, Canids) are Maned Wolf (about 70%) and Crab-eating Fox (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hoary Fox is recorded against all the mammals logged in Emas National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
