Quad-Citians have two new fennec foxes to visit at Niabi Zoo.
The kits, a male and female, were born on April 12 to foxes Carlos and Lidi, according to Niabi. These kits are Carlos and Lidi's first offspring but the third litter born at Niabi. Including the new additions, nine fennec foxes have been born at Niabi and the female is the first of that gender born there.
Fennec foxes are native to North Africa, where they hunt small animals in the Sahara and Sinai deserts, Niabi's release states. They are the smallest fox species but have over-sized ears which help them find food and keep cool.
Niabi got Carlos from a fellow zoo, while Lidi was confiscated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service during an investigation into illegal animal importation, the zoo said.
Niabi is part of a fennec fox breeding program that includes 40 American and Canadian zoos, the release states. The two new foxes will eventually be transferred to other zoos, joining 139 other foxes that are part of the program.