The bat-eared fox: a prime candidate for rabies vector?
Bat-eared foxes, Otocyon megalotis, are small (3-5 kg), primarily insectivorous carnivores widespread in the more arid areas of southern and East Africa. For many months of the year they live in nuclear family groups, members of which frequently indulge in affiliative behaviour such as play, allogrooming, and huddling. Physical contact between individuals in any particular group is thus common. In addition, groups are non-territorial and intermingle freely at times when exploiting food-rich patches of clumped prey, e.g. individuals foraging for harvester termites, Hodotermes mossambicus.
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Department of Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
D000351:Africa, Eastern; D000353:Africa, Southern; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005589:Foxes / Q000523:psychology / Q000821:virology*; D011818:Rabies / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D012919:Social Behavior