Talk:Fennec fox

Pets

wouldnt it be a good thing to place a " fennecs as pets" section here? they make wonderfull pets..... Gabrielsimon 21:40, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

This question comes awfully close to being flamebait, as there are those who have very strong opinions about keeping non-domesticated animals as pets. That said, there is a section on the raccoon page, which is a similar situation... so I don't see this as a problem, though Wikipedia rules on keeping a neutral point of view should be observed. [shrug] This page is young. Go for it. See what happens. JRice 21:00, 2005 Jun 1 (UTC)

Do YOU have a fennec? If not, how do you know they make good pets? Dora Nichov 12:17, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

The question can be re-directed: Do YOU have a Fennec? Several facts can be ascertained, if you bothered to look. (1) There is an established community of Fennec owners. (2) There are Fennec breeders throughout the US (which is one of the larger markets for exotic pets). (3) The Fennec is generally recognized as the only species of fox that possible to keep as a domestic pet.

However, it is an error to call such pets domesticated. It hasn't gone through the long period of breeding and taming that loosely defines domesticated breeds. What makes it possible to keep as a pet is the ease of its temperment and the ability to socialize it. But socialization is neccesary for any pet. A domestic breed not socialized to human contact and left to its own devices will go feral.

The best suggestion is to look for reliable sources of information from Fennec owners (Fennec Fox Directory or About.com's info on Fennec Foxes) and then present opposing opinions of those who are against the ownership of any exotic pets.--David3565 03:21, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

if it helps

if anyone wants to know more about the habits of domesticted fennecs, it might be good to join a yahoo group called fennec fox, or a cordial fennec group. or fennec resources. they have breeders and many owners as members, who might be able to asnwer questions. Ketrovin 12:34, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

Arabic origin of fennec

Moved form Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language:

Strictly speaking this is not a request for translation of an article, but I don't know where else to put this. In the fennec article the following appears: The name "fennec" apparently comes from the Arabic word for fox. Can an Arabic speaker verify this and expand or delete as appropriate? -EDM 16:02, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

I'm a native arabic, and i don't think i've ever heard the word "fennec" in my life. i'm deleting this section from the article.--Amr Hassan 12:09, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

It could be possible even if you're a native arabic. The arabic language is very complex, for example, did you know that there's more than 200 words that means "lion" in arabic? CG 12:28, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

According to dictionary.com], it comes from Arabic fanak, but it doesn't explain what fanak means. Zoe 19:05, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

According to an arabic dictionnary, فنك (fanak) means (This is an approximate translation):

An animal species from the Canidae family and the Carnivora order. Similar to a fox. He has large pointy ears, soft furr, agile legs. He wanders from sunrise to sunset. He feeds on birds, insects and reptiles. His habitat is the African continent and the Arabic peninsula. His furr in one of the best {Persian).

So "fennec" comes from the Arabic "fannak" which according to the last word comes from Persian.

Please add this conversation to Talk:Fennec and the information to the fennec article specifying the source. CG 20:32, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

al-Munjid fi al-lughah al-‘Arabiyah al-mu‘asirah. Beirut : Dar al-Mashriq. 2001. ISBN 2-7214-2228-6.

I've just way toned down the suggestion that zerda is from Greek xeros: this is virtually impossible linguistically. First, you have to be an English-speaker, so that initial X gets pronounced as Z. This doesn't happen in other languages. Next you have to pretend that that D isn't there or that random D's can just get added to words. Presumably it's some kind of native name for the animal (Berber? who know?)... 19:37, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Uh-oh

The page on foxs does not include the fennec fox as a domesticated fox, but instead refers to the silver fox as the only domesticated fox. Likewise, the silver fox article says it is the only domesticated fox.

Genus

If this source classifys the genus as vulpes why is the binominal name Fennecus zerda?--Bjwebb (talk) 10:46, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Taxonomy

I removed the Taxonomy section because it made questionable statements about the origin of "zerda". Someone had to have known what "zerda" meant in order to apply the name in the first place. Species names don't come out of nowhere. Coyoty 00:43, 21 May 2006 (UTC)