Bat-Eared Fox Facts: The Fox That Hears Its Dinner Underground
Those ears are not a decoration. The bat-eared fox carries the biggest ears of any fox — twin satellite dishes tuned to the sound of insects moving beneath the African soil. Add a mouthful of extra teeth and a father who does the babysitting, and you have one of the strangest little hunters on the savanna. In our videos, a youngster is tasting a pear slice — a sweet change from the usual crunchy menu.
Watch Bat-Eared Fox at Snack Time Zoo:
Ears Like Satellite Dishes
A bat-eared fox's ears can grow up to about 13 centimetres tall — enormous for an animal that weighs only 3 to 5 kilograms. They work like hearing trumpets: walking slowly with its head down, the fox listens for termites chewing and dung beetle larvae wriggling underground, pinpoints the sound, and digs the snack up in seconds. Few hunters anywhere find dinner by ear alone, but this fox does it every single night.
The Only Fox That Mostly Eats Bugs
Almost every other member of the dog family hunts meat. The bat-eared fox hunts insects — harvester termites are the staple, and one fox may crunch through more than a million termites in a year. Its jaws are built for the job: 46 to 50 small teeth, more than almost any other land mammal, working like a tiny mill that can chomp several times a second to grind up hard-shelled bugs.
Built-In Air Conditioning
Those giant ears do two jobs. Packed with fine blood vessels, they release body heat into the air, helping the fox stay cool under the fierce sun of the Kalahari and East African savannas. It is the same trick elephants use, scaled down to fox size. Between the cooling ears and a mostly nocturnal schedule, the bat-eared fox handles some of the hottest hunting grounds on Earth.
Dad Does the Babysitting
Bat-eared foxes pair up for the long term, and the teamwork is unusual: after the pups are born, the father does most of the guarding, grooming and playing with them at the den while the mother goes out to feed. She needs the extra food to make milk for the pups, so his childcare is what keeps the whole family fed. Family groups may also include grown pups from the year before, helping at home.
Quick Summary
The bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis) is a small African canid with oversized hearing: it finds termites and larvae by sound, crunches them with up to 50 teeth, cools itself through its ears, and raises pups in devoted pairs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a bat-eared fox have such big ears?
Mainly for hearing. Its ears, up to about 13 centimetres tall, pick up the faint sounds of termites and beetle larvae moving underground, so the fox can dig them up. The ears also help release body heat in hot savanna weather.
How many teeth does a bat-eared fox have?
Between 46 and 50 — more than almost any other land mammal, and more than other canids. The many small teeth act like a mill for crunching through large numbers of insects quickly.
Where do bat-eared foxes live?
In the dry grasslands and savannas of eastern and southern Africa, in two separate populations. They dig burrows but often take over and renovate dens dug by other animals.
Do bat-eared foxes only eat insects?
Mostly, yes — termites, beetles and other insects make up the bulk of the diet, which is unique among foxes and other canids. They will also take eggs, small animals and fruit when the chance appears, like the pear in our video.