Photo © eMammal / Flickr. Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
As noted before, the Fox study is aimed at British foxes and their history. However, I also look at foxes around the world and particularly those made extinct -The Fox and Canid Study (1976). The Hong Kong fox is one of these.
The Natural History Museum in Hong Kong does not have an HK fox taxidermy or photographs of the canid made extinct through colonial hunting. I have promised not just HK Museum but also Wildlife Hong Kong that if I find one or the other I will inform them for their records.
So things seemed to come to an end after years of searching until I discovered a Russian language site and it confirms my hypothesis that V. v. Hoole was the Hong Kong fox.
Range: southern China from Sichuan to Fujian and Zhejiang, including Hunan and Yunnan.
According to Chinese authors, this subspecies is distributed in the provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, southern Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan (excluding the Xikang region), Yunnan and other provinces of China.
Jacobi (1922) mentions a skin obtained in Yichang (Hubei) and a second one in Batan (Sichuan) on the western border of the range. The northern limit of the range, where the subspecies borders V. v. tschiliensis is unknown. The modern southern border is also unknown. Even at the beginning of the 20th century. it was indicated that the fox is more common in the west of the range (Sichuan) and the east (Fujian), and is less common inside southeastern China, although it is widespread. South of the Sichun-Fujian line, the fox becomes rare and finally absent in the southern parts. At the same time, there were later indications that the species was recorded in Hong Kong.
It looks like the European red fox, but the sides and especially the thighs are heavily tinged with gray, the forelegs are usually less black, and the red tones are less brown and more chestnut. The tail is chestnut over most of the surface; its lower surface is whitish, the longer hairs are black. The lower and inner surfaces of the body are white to gray or even pinkish.
A series of 17 skins from Fujian show the range of individual variation in one limited area. On average, the skins are more chestnut on top with grayer thighs and have a paler tail, graying downwards. However, there are individual specimens that differ in various ways from the average coloration type. In general, the pure chestnut area is bordered by a rather narrow, indistinctly demarcated median stripe, which becomes more rufous on the tail. The flanks are bright buffy, covered with gray-tipped hairs, which are especially prevalent on the sides of the thighs. The blackish area on the sides of the muzzle may be well developed or very indistinct or absent. The black stripe on the front of the front leg is usually narrow, bordered by rufous, but may be quite wide, to cover the entire front of the leg and extend over the shoulders. In dark specimens, the throat and abdomen are dark gray, where the dark bases of the hair are visible, and on one skin, the disappearance of the white tips on the hair forms an indistinct black collar. Usually a narrow line of pure bright ocher color runs along the sides on the border with the belly. The latter is usually white with a greyish undercoat, but sometimes the entire underside of the body has a rich pinkish brownish hue. In the entire series, not a single skin has the blackish belly that is often found in Egyptian or European red foxes. Usually a narrow line of pure bright ocher color runs along the sides on the border with the belly. The latter is usually white with a greyish undercoat, but sometimes the entire underside of the body has a rich pinkish brownish hue. In the entire series, not a single skin has the blackish belly that is often found in Egyptian or European red foxes. Usually a narrow line of pure bright ocher color runs along the sides on the border with the belly. The latter is usually white with a greyish undercoat, but sometimes the entire underside of the body has a rich pinkish brownish hue. In the entire series, not a single skin has the blackish belly that is often found in Egyptian or European red foxes.
A well-preserved hide from Lijiang, Yunnan, has an unusually rich color, the fore and hind legs are black, and the entire back is more reddish than usual. The tail is very dark, almost black. However, in general, the skin corresponds to V. v. hoole.
According to Chinese authors, the coat color has darker brown and gray tones. The coat is shorter and finer than other subspecies. The black vertical stripes on the front of the forelegs are shallow and grayish gray, the thighs are darker with the addition of gray tones. The color of the hair on the back is darker brown, and the back of the back is grey-black. The color of the coat varies greatly, with some skins lacking a grey-black tint, so their colors range from chestnut brown to reddish brown.
In 2010, an analysis of the literature, surveys, market surveys, general rapid field studies and camera traps was published, drawing conclusions about the regional status of the fox in Southern China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Hong Kong and Macau).
It was once widespread in Guangxi and Guangdong. Historically, in southern China, the species has been recorded in many areas of Guangxi, Guangdong and Hong Kong, but not in Hainan. By the 1960s in Hong Kong, numbers had dwindled to a few pairs in the New Territories and by the 1970s the foxes were considered extinct. During the 1970s, about 1,000 skins were purchased annually from Guangxi.
According to surveys, the fox is considered absent in 2/3 of the territory, only in 11% of the areas respondents indicated a “decent number”, mainly in Guangdong province. Interviewees from two forested areas (covering 22% of the area) in Hainan claimed to have seen a red fox - which is doubtful given the lack of official records.
The lack of direct field observations and market reports, as well as scant indirect reports, suggest that the population has declined greatly in the region. Most of the oral reports are from the lower and middle latitudes of Guangdong. Recent studies using camera traps (2001-2003) support the species' presumed extinction in Hong Kong.
Literature
1. Swinhoe R. 1870. Catalog of the mammals of China (south of the river Yangtsze) and the island of Formosa. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 15:615-653.
2. Glover M. Allen, Ph.D. "The Mammals of China and Mongolia" / Natural Hisrory of Central Asia. Vol. XI, Part 1. The American Museum of Natural History. New York, 1938. - 620 pp. (pp.350-353)
3. Lau MW-N., Fellowes JR, Chan BPL "Carnivores (Mammalia: Carnivora) in South China: A status review with notes on the commercial trade" Mammal Review, 2010. 40(4): 247-292 DOI: 10.1111 /j.1365-2907.2010.00163.x
4. 高耀亭等, 1987. 兽纲第八卷食肉目. 北京:科学出版社. 页：1-377; Gao Yaoting et al., 1987. Fauna Sinica, Mammalia, Vol. 8
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