Taronga Zoo's new litter of fennec foxes explore a new world Three fennec fox babies born at Taronga Zoo in December have just started to emerge from the burrow. Picture: Rick Stevens Source: The Daily Telegraph THEY'RE known as the "red menace" but there's nothing threatening about this litter of fennec foxes at Taronga Zoo. As the smallest of the canines, weighing 1.5kg as adults, the siblings are more shy than sly. But much to the delight of keepers and visitors, the foxes are finally exploring their compound, growing in confidence each day. Before 2010 there were just six of the animals remaining in Australasian zoos, but Taronga carnivore keeper Tamara Bell said first-time parents Zinder and Kebilli had introducing a new bloodline with their three kits. We haven't had a mother-raised fennec fox litter since 1999. We needed new genes," she said. As they get bigger and grow in confidence they take further steps from the entrance of the nest. The CCTV monitoring we've been doing is in black and white and we can't identify them individually. All we know is they're all equally energetic and they all started eating at the same time. Keepers will be in the dark about the gender of the infants until their first vet check on February 13. Dad Zinder was brought from Germany, while mum Kebilli came from Poland, meaning the three kits are not related to any of the fennec foxes in Australia.