“These agile insect eaters of the Kalahari desert live with, and depend on the Meerkats for their survival”

A year in the realm of the desert fox. See how a band of desert dwelling foxes struggles to survive.

This National Geographic ‘Special’ tells the story of a family and the trials and tribulations of raising four playful pups in one of the harshest places on earth – Africa’s Kalahari Desert.

The bat-eared fox is no ordinary fox! The only insectivorous member of the dog family, the bat-eared fox will try to save its resources and wait out the drought until the rains come again.

As the desert dries out after the rain, antelope move away in search of greener pastures, but the bat-eared foxes remain. Their den, a burrow that’s borrowed from the meerkats, provides underground shelter and the foxes wait out the long, dry months, determined to survive.

It is a lean time between rains and our bat-eared fox family must outsmart hungry Jackals, Cheetahs and Lions. Their super sensitive ears alert them to predators and help them find food.

As well as the bat-eared fox family, the documentary looks at the meerkats of the Kalahari and their interaction with the foxes. It will come as no surprise therefore that this documentary has a very high ‘cute factor’!

Follow the fortunes of one band of these desert dwellers as they struggle to survive the drought and predators of the Kalahari, walking an endless tightrope between predator and prey in this hostile part of Africa

Produced and filmed by Philip & Lynne Richardson for National Geographic.