Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) — Red Fox

Canis vulpes Linnaeus, 1758 p.40; Type locality- Sweden.

Ƒulpes peculiosa Kishida, 1924 p.4; Type locality- Korean Peninsula; Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.380.

Ƒ. kyomasai Kishida and Mori, 1929 p.82; Type locality- Hamgyeongbuk Province, Korea; Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.380; Kuroda, 1938 p.34; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.229 (Incertae sedis); Won, 1968 p.261.

Ƒ. vulpes peculiosa: Kuroda, 1938 p.34; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.229; Won, 1958 p.440; Won, 1967 p.132; Won, 1968 p.258; Yoon, 1992 p.93.

Ƒ. vulpes: Howell, 1929 p.24 (a skin of red fox from Korea); Won, 1968 p.256; Corbet, 1978 p.163; Han, 1994 p.46; Won & Smith, 1999 p.16; Oh, 2004a p.151.

Range: The original distribution of the red fox covered the Korean Peninsula (Jo & Baccus 2015). Although one dead red fox was discovered in Yanggu County, Gangwon Province in South Korea in 2004, the animal probably escaped from a fur farm in the area (Jo & Baccus 2015). A small population may remain in northern and northeastern areas of North Korea (Won & Smith 1999), but little evidence corroborated the presence of red foxes in North Korea other than two individuals from the Gaemagowon (Yu et al. 2012; Fig. 56).

Remarks: Red foxes in Korea were described under the subspecies V. v. peculiosa Kishida, 1924. Analyses of cytochrome b gene indicated that red foxes inhabiting South Korea represented both Eurasian and North Pacific lineages, implying at least two recent immigrations (Yu et al. 2012).

Conservation status: The Ministry of Environment in South Korea designated the red fox as an Endangered Species in 1997. A restoration plan began in 2012 with the release of captive-raised foxes, after the species became extirpated (Jo & Baccus 2015).