One thing is known about the Tibetan fox: it has the thick, square face of a Zen scholar. No one knows anything more about this elusive and mysterious beast.
As opposed to the monks
No, we are of course somewhat exaggerating, or rather - understating the cumulative level of knowledge about the Tibetan fox. Although there is some truth in our statement. Unlike the allegedly Tibetan Krishna monks, who can be found anywhere on the planet (except Tibet itself), who walk around in huge crowds, dressed in bright orange robes and accompanying their procession with powerful sound effects, the Tibetan fox behaves much more modestly. He does not dress up in colorful clothes, does not make heartbreaking sounds, including not repeating the mantra Haare Krishna and generally does not pray to any gods (at least not publicly), moreover, he practically does not "talk" at all, only occasionally foxes communicate with each other with low, quiet barking. And the most important thing is that the Tibetan fox tries not to leave its homeland if possible.
As for the homeland, it is clear from the name: the areola of this animal is the high plateaus of Tibet plus Nepal, and it can also be found somewhere in China and India, but again not far from the Himalayan mountains. Since the mountains by definition have penetrating winds and the temperature jumps from -40 in winter to +30 in summer (Celsius), the fox's fur is thick and protects it from wind, cold and heat. Just due to the thick fur, especially on the scruff of the neck, the fox's face looks big and square. Although the fox itself is very small - one of the most modest in size representatives of its tribe. The weight of an adult is no more than five and a half kilograms.
Do not go for a walk in Tibet
The Tibetan fox is extremely disinclined to communicate and contact with both relatives and representatives of any other species. It rarely descends from the mountains to the lowlands (it prefers to live at an altitude of about five kilometers above sea level - you can say, a kilometer per kilogram of weight), for housing builds deep burrows under huge rocks, hunts only in pairs, not arranging mass enclosures and noisy meetings with buddies even on holidays.
The Tibetan fox is not looking for cheap popularity with producers and directors. The professionals from BBC managed to shoot it on video only after their long and unsuccessful attempts, and this remarkable event happened only in the XXI century. Until then, the existence of the Tibetan fox was believed solely on the stories of a few eyewitnesses - no documentary evidence could not be found. Although some mountaineers boasted of hats made of Tibetan fox, but they (hats) did not make much impression even on amateurs poorly versed in fur. Although the fox fur is thick, but not of high quality, so for the sake of a hat you should not hunt it - you will only hurt your legs in vain on mountain paths or get lost in the Himalayas. And not every monk will get out of there. Therefore, we watch the movie, which was able to shoot the British film makers, and listen attentively to the stories of eyewitnesses. We ourselves, we repeat, do not need to make attempts to track down the Tibetan fox. And we won't be able to.
Crown dish
So, the Tibetan fox: small, very toothy, fluffy, but not commercial (which is undoubtedly to its benefit). Lives high up in the mountains, feeds on pika. Yes, by the way, this is a very important remark and almost the only noteworthy observation made by researchers of Tibetan fox life for the last thousand years. The pika, or hayfowl, is a representative of the hare-like species that has been living on our planet in an almost unchanged form for 33 million years! These animals are called pischukhas because they communicate with each other by a peculiar squeak or whistle, where each tone has its own meaning. No one knows what they communicate with each other about. But the Tibetan fox is sure that they do not say anything clever to each other. And in general, he believes that the pika is intended exclusively for his, the fox's, table.
The fact that the Tibetan fox eats only pika is proved by the following indisputable fact. Where there are no pika, there are no Tibetan foxes. In order to better understand this connection, let us imagine two circles, one of which symbolizes pika and the other symbolizes the foothills of the Himalayas. Where these two circles intersect, that is where Tibetan foxes live.
Of course, if suddenly there are no pika in the usual place for hunting (or there are too few of them to eat enough), the Tibetan fox will not disdain other food - lizards, bird eggs and even carrion. But pika is the basis of the basics, so to speak - fox "bread".
Population census
In the now distant 1989, some presumptuous researcher estimated the number of Tibetan foxes at about 37,000. Where this figure came from is a great mystery. Probably, they counted as follows: if one fox met on 40 square kilometers, it means that on a million of two hundred thousand kilometers (the area of Tibet) there are about 40 thousand of them, well, and three thousand discounted from the calculation that some number of times saw the same fox. That's how it is. In China, the fox is guarded to the best of their ability (though, having previously exterminated almost all pika), and in Tibet no one pays attention to it. But he does not suffer from this. Firstly, even the 40 thousand of them invented by statistics is quite impressive, especially for high-mountainous Tibet, and secondly - try to exterminate it, you have to catch it first. And we repeat, there is no need to hunt the Tibetan fox. You can't even make a good hat out of it.
Interesting facts
Common foxes are able to make a whole show in front of their future victims. They show with all their appearance that they are not interested in hunting at all, and when the prey loses vigilance, then they attack.
