Wildlife. Updated November 2026. 4 min read.
Late in the afternoon on the short-grass plains of the Mara, our guides slow down near certain patches of open ground and start scanning low. What they are looking for is a pair of ears, enormous and dark-edged, turned toward the ground. A bat-eared fox is listening to termites moving under the soil, and if you wait, it will start to dig. Nearby, the rest of the family is often lying in a heap at the mouth of the den.
Bat-eared foxes live on open, short grass in the Maasai Mara and its conservancies, in Laikipia, around Amboseli and in other dry savanna areas. They are easiest to see in the late afternoon and at dusk, and in cooler weather they are out in the morning too. In the Mara, families at a known den can give you a quiet half hour of watching that many guests remember longer than the lions.
Where to see bat-eared foxes
| Place | What you see | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Maasai Mara and its conservancies | Family groups at dens on the short-grass plains | Conservancy guides often know active dens; ask about distance rules |
| Laikipia conservancies | Foxes on open plains, sometimes on night drives | Night drives are allowed in many conservancies |
| Amboseli | Foxes on the dry, open ground around the lake bed | Look in the late afternoon |
| Nairobi National Park and the southern rangelands | Occasional sightings on the open plains | Less reliable than the Mara |
What you are looking at
A bat-eared fox is small, about 3 to 5 kilograms, with a grizzled silver-gray coat, black legs, a black mask around the eyes, a bushy black-tipped tail and those ears, which can be about 13 centimeters long, huge for its head. It looks a little like a jackal, but it is lighter, with a shorter, pointed face, and it carries its ears very differently: forward and down when it is hunting, flat back when it is nervous. It sits in a genus of its own within the dog family.
How the ears work
The bat-eared fox is one of the few members of the dog family that lives mostly on insects. Its huge ears pick up the faint sound of termites and beetle larvae moving underground, and it walks slowly with its head low, stops, swivels its ears and then digs fast with its front paws. Harvester termites are its main food in many areas, so the fox follows the termites' timing: in hot weather they feed at night, and in cool, cloudy spells they forage by day. The ears also help shed heat. It has more teeth than almost any other land mammal with a placenta, small ones suited to crunching insects.
Family life at the den
- Bat-eared foxes usually live as a pair with their young, sometimes with an extra female.
- Dens are burrows, often dug by other animals and enlarged, and a family may have several on its range.
- Fathers do a great deal of the care: guarding, grooming and playing with the pups while the mother feeds.
- Pups appear outside the den a few weeks after birth and play in the evening light.
- Families groom each other and lie close together, which makes for wonderful watching.
Three things most people do not know
First, bat-eared foxes are not scavengers and rarely kill anything larger than a mouse; most of what they eat is insects, which makes them a friend to grazers and farmers. Second, when chased, a bat-eared fox runs in sharp zigzags and uses its tail as a rudder, which is how it escapes jackals and eagles. Third, the species lives in two separate parts of Africa, one in East Africa and one in the south, with a wide gap between them.
Watching a den well
- Let your guide approach slowly and stop well back, with the engine off.
- Keep voices low and stay seated; the family will relax and come out.
- Never drive across the den area or block the entrances.
- In the national reserve, stay on the road; in conservancies, follow the den rules on distance and time.
- Leave before the family is disturbed, and do not share the exact den location online.
How to photograph bat-eared foxes
The best light is the last hour before sunset, when the low sun shines through those big ears and lights them up. Use a long lens, 400 mm if you have one, from a low window so your eye line is near the fox's. Wait for the moment the family looks up together, ears forward. A fast shutter helps with playing pups. Grass in front of the face spoils many shots, so ask your guide to reposition slightly rather than zooming in.
Conservation status
The IUCN lists the bat-eared fox as Least Concern at the time of writing. Locally, numbers can crash when rabies or canine distemper spreads from domestic dogs, and foxes are hit by road traffic and lose ground where open grassland is ploughed or fenced. Healthy termite populations and open, grazed grassland are what they need, which is exactly what the Mara conservancies are trying to keep.
Trips where you will see them
A Mara conservancy stay of three nights or more, with afternoon drives that run to dusk, gives you good odds of a bat-eared fox family. Laikipia adds night drives and more open plains. Pair them with the jackals you will see on the same plains, and ask your guide to point out the difference.
