Even with its big, conspicuous ears and relatively long legs, the slender-built San Joaquin kit fox is the smallest member of the dog family in North America. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ies Facts San Joaquin Kit Fox Vulpes macrot is mutica . This subspecies is still endangered, after nearly 50 years of being on the Endangered Species List. Not designated. They build dens to keep cool when its hot to prevent predators and prevent overheating. The average male San Joaquin kit fox measures about 32 inches in length (of which 12 inches is the length of its tail). A few populations exist within the valley floor. Endangered, listed March 11, 1967. This subspecies is still endangered, after nearly 50 years of being on the Endangered Species List. kit fox in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California. San Joaquin kit foxes can use more than 60 different dens over the course of a year, keeping their predators, like coyotes, guessing. Kit fox are prey to coyotes, bobcats and eagles, and are endangered. Critical Habitat . The endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) was formerly very common in the San Joaquin Valley and through much of Central California.Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000. Heather Bell, a wildlife biologist with Fish and Wildlife Service's San Joaquin Valley Endangered Species Recovery Planning Program in Fresno, recently completed her Master of Science thesis on the San Joaquin kit fox. The kit fox is found only on the edges of the San Joaquin Valley from southern Kern County up to Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin Counties on the west and up to Stanislaus County on the east. The endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) was formerly very common in the San Joaquin Valley and through much of Central California.Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000. We examine each of these ecological components in an attempt to explain why the San Joaquin kit fox is having diffi culty The average litter is 4 pups. Status. Description and Ecology . Appearance. Survival Adaptations: The San Joaquin Kit Fox has many different adaptations to surviving the hot climate in the San Joaquin Valley.It had hairy paws that enable it to track in the loose soil. We describe northern range kit fox distribution, habitat, prey base, restrictions to kit fox movements, and com-petition with other carnivores and raptors. California ecosystem, the kit fox is worth its weight in gold. SAVING THE SAN JOAQUIN KIT FOX .