Video: Adorable bat-eared fox cubs at the California Zoo

Three adorable baby bat-eared foxes have emerged from their den to frolic and play at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in California, a video shows.

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“The kits are spending more time outside of the den with their mother, Winter — a first-time mom,” the zoo said in a news release. “They enjoy wrestling with one another and playing with mom’s big ears.”

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A video shared by the zoo shows the babies frolicking and chasing each other around their habitat.

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Bat-eared foxes, which are native to some parts of Africa, have ears that can grow more than 5 inches tall, the zoo said. Along with improving hearing, they help shed heat to keep the foxes cool.

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They typically live together in large groups — up to 72 foxes in a square mile — in short-grass savannas and scrublands, where they primarily eat insects.

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Harvester termites are a favorite, the zoo said, but the foxes also eat “dung beetles and their larvae, grasshoppers, scorpions, spiders, millipedes, rodents, lizards, fruits, and eggs.”

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The foxes hunt insects using their noses and large ears to hear bugs crawling around, according to the zoo. They can travel more than 7 miles in a night while hunting.

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“A bat-eared fox family has several den holes in its territory, each with many entrances, tunnels, and chambers,” the zoo said. The foxes dig new burrows and enlarge old ones with their sharp claws.

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Bat-eared foxes are fairly common in southern and eastern Africa, the zoo said. They are sometimes hunted for their pelts or because they are considered pests to young livestock.

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The three youngsters at the zoo are doing well and nursing throughout the day and night, officials said.

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“Their current daily activities include chasing each other’s tails and catching crickets,” the release said. They have started eating solid foods, with mealworms as their current favorite.

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Winter and her pups can be seen in the safari park’s Nairobi Village area.

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