World's Smallest Wild Dog - Dogs in the Wild meet with family #wildlife
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AnimalsTranscript
00:005.5 million square miles of sand, the size of China.
00:10The Sahara smothers 6% of the world's land.
00:15Yet this vast, unforgiving place is home to the world's smallest wild dog, the fennec fox.
00:37Barely the size of a walking boot, this tiny fox goes head-to-head with the desert every day.
00:48The Sahara's filled with millions upon millions of grains of sand.
00:54And every grain acts as a radiator.
00:58Sand absorbs heat, and the hotter it gets, the more heat it radiates.
01:06The temperature here spirals to over 100 degrees.
01:14In such sizzling conditions, the fennec's size matters.
01:19A small body can shed heat faster than a large one.
01:22And to lose heat even faster, the fennec's ears act like sophisticated air-conditioning units.
01:30The network of veins cools the blood to lower the temperature.
01:38Despite such capable cooling, not even a fennec can withstand such heat.
01:44There's no shade, but fennecs are masters of their environment.
01:50Moisture concentrates at the foot of the dunes, so the sand here is firm enough to dig a burrow.
01:59Home sweet home, the Sahara.
02:02They have shelter from the worst of the heat, but they must eventually leave the safety of their den to find food.
02:14The Sahara is home to the largest fennec population in the world.
02:19The Sahara is home to the largest fennec population in the world.
02:24The Sahara is home to the largest fennec population in the world.
02:29And this enormous desert is a dangerous place for a tiny wild dog.
02:36And this enormous desert is a dangerous place for a tiny wild dog.
02:40An unwary fennec is small enough to be caught by feral dogs and even eagle owls.
02:50But their camouflaged coats make them less conspicuous.
02:54In the fading light of dusk, she makes a run for it.
03:00Zigzagging and jumping.
03:05She uses the dunes to mask her location.
03:09The grains of sand are constantly shifting, but the pads on her feet are furry for maximum traction.
03:17Few can keep tabs on her whereabouts.
03:20Few can keep tabs on her whereabouts.