Looking at Foxes (and other wild canids)

(c)2023 Respective copyright owner

I have been posting consistently on this blog since 2021. Sometimes two or even five posts a week. There are the views but the purpose of this blog, other than to educate. was to get discussion going and also hear from others involved in fox research.

Why there has been no contact from other researchers I have no idea and the stats show a world wide interest in foxes:

United Kingdom 2.72K

United States 1.82K

Germany 950

Belgium 572

France 208

Russia 170

Ireland 151

Sweden 149

Canada 94

Hong Kong 62

Netherlands 39

Indonesia 36

India 33

Singapore 23

United Arab Emirates 17

Finland 17

Japan 17

Austria 14

Brazil 13

Other 203

Hong Kong does not surprise me since I have looked at the extinct (through colonial hunting) Hong Kong fox and trying to find photographs if not taxidermy of a specimen since even the Hong Kong Wildlife Network are interested in anything I come up with as they have nothing.

The subject of wild canids is always something that catches attention (just never funding!) and I have dealt with the Falkland Islands Wolf as well as the Hokkaido wolf. Sadly, we see countries championing the return of the wolf only to then declare you can buy a licence to "harvest" the surplus. There is no "surplus" amongst wild canids and the reasons why governments/states decide to allow wolf hunting need to be scrutinised heavily.

Of course, the coyote is also a victim of human insanity. Yet in every case it is humans who create any 'conflict'.

In Germany and other European countries we have seen the return of the wolf taken sensibly -but now certain factions want 'control' -ie. some 'fun' shooting. Even the return of the jackal to Western European countries was initially treated sensibly and there was great excitement at the species return to former territories.  However, we have more and more vocal factions calling for 'control'.

Sadly, even where wolves have been officially released (as with lynx) certain groups shoot or poison them "on the quiet" and how many investigations have there been -or should I ask: how many prosecutions? Pay the politician (I mean 'donate' to a campaign) you get what you want. 

There is a very good reason why wolves cannot and should not be "re-introduced" to the UK. Firstly, like the Old red squirrel, hare, three fox types, deer and many other species it was humans who wiped them out for 'fun' and profit. Many still do as an excuse for extremely bad animal management: one 'farmer' in Wales recently asked whether someone could stuff a fox he had shot that had killed about lambs a night. The lamb killing was an excuse as he pointed out that his sheep had been out in the fields lambing in -8 degrees so lambs were very likely freezing to death and no evidence was offered that a fox had even sniffed one.

We know estate owners and farmers are still poison baiting, snaring and shooting wildlife whether foxes, the odd stray pet cat, badger, etc. Red squirrels (imported from the 1860s on to "replenish the shooting") are supposedly protected yet are killed deliberately. Badgers are protected yet culled based on very bad science over bovine TB. They are also "killed to order" for some taxidermists and that ignores the 'fun' shooters and snaring going on. Reintroduced birds of prey are protected yet killed and nests smashed.

And someone wants to re-introduce wolves?

There are attempts to re-introduce wild cats to the UK. Not genuine Old wild cats but European ones. The protected species in Scotland is still being poisoned, shot and snared so any new stock re-introduced to wipe out the English wild cats killed off in the early to mid 19th century (yes, they lasted that long) by shooters and snaring and poisoning are not going to last long. I wish they could but history and the fact that there are people allowed guns to go out every night to shoot and kill animals for 'fun' and maybe make some money from that does not bode well. 

Even realising that foxes in Hong Kong and the Old foxes in the UK were becoming extinct did not stop the 'sportsmen' continuing to kill them. They went on and on until...the foxes were gone. In the UK the solution was, possibly from the 17th century, to import hundreds then thousands from Europe so the 'sport' could continue. In Hong Kong the hunts moved on to anything else killable.

I have covered these subjects ands others including causes of fox deaths and illnesses on this blog and I will post in future -there is a post due today- but in all honesty without exchange of information and comments I may as well just publish the material and cut out the internet (if only!).