Structure d’âge et sexe ratio d’une population de renards roux (Vulpes vulpes) en Belgique

Abstract

Regarding the increasing fox population observed today in Belgium as in other European countries, and its repercutions on the efficacy of the fox vaccination against rabies, a study of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population has been set up in Southern Belgium. We present the study of the sex ratio, age structure of a fox population of the Belgian Ardenne and evaluate its live expectation. For the period 1996/1997, the age ratio was 100 (juveniles per 100 adults)(n= 140) and the sex ratio 0.95 (male per female)(n= 41). For the period 1997/1998, the age ratio was 104.7 (n= 174) and the sex ratio 1.63 (n= 155). Results are discussed regarding previous works carried out in the South of Belgium and the North of France. The studied population shows a more equilibrated structure than 9 years ago, when oral vaccination programs were started. Consequences concerning the strategy of the fox vaccination are discussed.