Old British Foxes and Wild Cats; Old European wild cats, Corsican wild cat and Hong Kong Fox: A Sunday Round up

  

I began the British Fox Study in 1976 and soon found a lot of incorrect information was being pushed out by 'experts'.  However, to try to make my mark I wanted to show how the "old countryman's tales" of there once being very large foxes was a myth. Over the next 34 years I searched newspaper and book archives as well as accumulating my own library and in 2010 I published the first Reds Paper.

The first Red Paper showed that there were indeed Old type British foxes but they had been hunted into extinction by the 1860s.  I also found that thousands of foxes were imported into the UK each year to replenish "hunting stock" -the descendants of these are the red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) that we see today.

I also discovered that jackals, coyotes and even wolves were released by hunts and in many cases some hunt supporters attempted to cross breed to make a better hunting animal. It is a very long and complicated story but I fully documented the history and everything was fully referenced.

But it is said that a picture or photo can speak a thousand words.  The search to find specimens of the Old fox types (for which I found anecdotal evidence of them also being in Europe at one time) seemed to be impossible. John Colquhoun shot a Mountain fox (the largest of the foxes) in the mid 1830s and one of his books contained an artist's drawing of this.  But artists can often add to a subject, however, in this case the artist (unknown) was 100% spot on and this can be stated as photographs of the very fox appeared on an auction site and the accuracy was striking. The Extinct6 Fox and Wild Cats Museum now possesses the fox in question plus what6 appear to be a couple similar specimens.

The fact that it could be proven that we had three variants of a fox in the UK interested no one. The fact that anecdotal evidence showed similar fox was in Western Europe at one point also interested no one. Dogma draws in the money.

The interest in jackals, coyotes, wolves as well as wolf-dog hybrids saw me look at cases from the United States (with wildlife and other bodies cooperating)  and Europe. With the scope of work increasing the British Fox Study became the British Fox and Wild Canid Study in 2019.

Similarly the work started with the Wild Cats and Feral Study in 1980 resulted in decades of work leading to the clear identification of what the wild cats in the UK looked like originally and, again, the Extinct Fox and Wild Cats Museum have specimens of these.

Work in 2000 looked at and stated that there was indeed a wild cat on the island of Corsica and this was dismissed as myth until in 2023 zoologists found and identified the wild cat. Island cats have always been something that has fascinated me. 

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2023/06/mysterious-corsican-cat-fox-revealed-as.html

And foxes -there was a fox on Hong Kong that was hunted to extinction under colonial rule. No museum or HK based naturalists had any idea of the fox type and there appeared to be no historical photographic references to the fox.  It took many years but I eventually identified the fox type that had been made extinct as a relative of one from Southern China.

A list of other things discovered or achieved can be found in this post 

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2023/09/an-overview-and-what-we-have-discovered.html

But there is more. For many years the one thing I had noted was the decline in numbers of foxes -cars and shooters claim many but I was concerned at the number of foxes being reported as "poisoned" in the city where I live, Bristol. Was it poisoning or a disease of some kind?  It took a lot of "discussion" but I was then told that I could submit unusual or suspicious fox death cases for post mortem examination. The Bristol Fox Deaths Project ran from 2021-2024 and was the only one of its kind in the UK -and it made some very interesting discoveries including what may be killing a lot of young foxes each year.

In 2023 the official Bristol Fox and Badger Deaths Registers were started to list all reported deaths and where possible highlight wildlife death hot spots -which they did. The registers are ongoing projects.

Sadly, with badgers the UK Health an d Safety Executive refuse to allow post mortems to be carried out under the 'threat' of bovine TB.

To all of this can be added the work I did as a UK police forces exotic wildlife consultant between 1977-2018.  This work, specifically on "non native cats", also saw me consulted buy German police forces and agencies in Australia. My name is on several technical papers on the subject presented to conferences in the United States.

All of this has been unfinanced/sponsored work and without any association with a university or college -although a good few have benefitted from my work.

The next natural step is DNA work on the Old wild cat and fox specimens which is, once again, beyond our financial means.  Looking at European Old type foxes has been interesting and a few discoveries made there.

That is the work and the situation as things roll on slowly because no one or organisation funds work of this type on foxes or wild cats.

Bristol Fox Deaths Project 2021 -2024

 Just waiting for the proof copy to check and then I'll put out the order link.

Pages   226

Binding Type   Paperback Perfect Bound

Interior Color   Color

Dimensions   A4

£25.00

In 2020 the British Fox and Wild Canids Study (f 1976) decided that the number of suspected

fox poisoning cases in the City of Bristol needed to be properly investigated. The attitude of "just foxes" had prevailed for too long and the number of deaths reported were either deliberate poisoning or indicators of some form of disease in foxes.

Necropsies (post mortems) were carried out at Langford Veterinary School via Bristol University Post Mortem Services with results going to the Wildlife Network for Disease Surveillance and Animal Plant Health Advisory.

Although there were Road Traffic Accident cases far more was discovered about how various illnesses and diseases affect the British Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and as the only necropsy study of its kind carried out in the UK the possible reason for the increasing decline of the species appears to have been found as it claims cubs and young adult foxes lives every year.

As the first type of study in the UK this is groundbreaking and of interest to not just wildlife vets but wildlife rescue centres.

 

Bristol Fox Deaths Project Final Report

 Over 200 pages and hopefully out by mid February

Keir Starmer MP. Steve Reed MP. Natural England and DEFRA Guarantee Badger Extinction (for votes)

 The posts are on this blog where I stated that Labour leader Keir Starmer and Steve Reed MP had secret talks with farmers and that a deal was done regarding the unscientific badger culling.

Another 10,000 badgers would push the total so far to over 310,000 badgers slaughtered. Keir Starmer, Steve Reed (who will NOT discuss the cull), DEFRA and Natural England have guaranteed that the badger population will drop to such a level that by 2030 they will be extinct in most areas. Political deals count for more than saving a species that has faced (even as a protected species) near extinction before and endured much cruelty will become, as a 'protected' species extinct.

Hedgehogs are still declining.  The fox population is dropping as drastically and badgers will complete the trio of species that will fall over the edge into extinction by the 2030s.

Remember those responsible: Keir Starmer MP. Steve Reed MP. Natural England and DEFRA.

Protect The Wild posted this under the title REVEALED: Government discusses badger cull with farming lobbyists in off-the-record meetings

Following Labour's general election victory in 2024, Keir Starmer said "the fight for trust is the battle that defines our political era." However, new Freedom of Information revelations related to the badger cull show that his government is doing little in practice to earn the trust of the British people.

Protect the Wild submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in early January. We asked for information on meetings between ministers and representatives of the farming industry in which the badger cull was discussed since the Labour government took office.

In response to the request, DEFRA confirmed that the badger cull was a topic of discussion during three ministerial meetings with representatives of the farming industry that occurred between July 2024 and early January. However, the department did not provide the minutes of those meetings, nor the names of officials who were present, as requested. DEFRA said it could not provide these details because "no formal minutes were taken" at the meetings.

In other words, the meetings were effectively off the record. This means that whatever was said about the badger cull in those discussions between public servants and industry players will remain hidden from public view and scrutiny.

Protect the Wild also asked DEFRA for the list of farmers, vets, scientists, and conservationists, that it has engaged to co-design its new bovine tuberculosis (bTB) eradication strategy. This is a strategy announced by DEFRA last August that food security and rural affairs minister, Daniel Zeichner, said would ultimately "allow" the government to end the badger cull and "stop the spread of this horrific disease."

In its FOI response, DEFRA said it is forming a steering group from the existing Bovine Tuberculosis Partnership to take the strategy co-designing forward. Work is still underway to complete the full list of stakeholders who will work on the strategy, so DEFRA would not disclose any further information on the basis that "the information requested is still incomplete and subject to further adjustments before it is finalised." Once complete, the list of involved parties will be published on the government's Bovine TB Partnership page, the department said.

The Bovine Tuberculosis Partnership is a group of stakeholders, such farmers and veterinarians, that works on solutions to bTB. It has faced criticism, including from former members, for being a closed shop that has failed to come up with realistic and meaningful solutions.

Lack of transparency

DEFRA's FOI response to Protect the Wild is similar to its response to another request regarding water companies last year. The Good Law Project sent an FOI request to DEFRA in September asking for information about meetings – including minutes – between ministers and representatives of water companies since Labour took office. DEFRA confirmed that nine meetings had taken place but said "we do not hold any minutes of the meetings you have asked about."

This lack of transparency from the government is deeply troubling. As the Good Law Project's Tamara Walters put it, "If ministers talk to big business, we need to know what they’re saying" to understand in whose interests officials are working.

This transparency is particularly important when the government is not living up to the expectations of the public, as is the case with the sewage scandal and the badger cull.

Starmer's government came to power promising 'change' on multiple issues. The badger cull was among them, with Labour branding the over a decade-long massacre of badgers as "ineffective" and pledging to end the cull.

But rather than ending the massacre, the Labour government has extended it by approving a whole new cull in Cumbria. On its watch, the cull licensing authority – Natural England – also authorised licences in late 2024 which allowed for the killing of over 10,000 badgers in intensive culls.

Although the government has announced some welcome changes to the status quo on the badger cull issue, such as scrapping an inherited plan for further potentially large-scale killing of the iconic mammal through 'targeted' culling, the fact remains that badgers continue to be massacred under this government in the name of tackling bTB in cows. Indeed, the government's current plans allow for culling to potentially continue up to 2029.

Significant access

Farming lobbyists have made no secret of wanting the cull to continue under the Labour government. In July last year, the National Farmers' Union president, Tom Bradshaw, spoke at a farming show in Wales. During the event, he said it would be a "tragedy" if the Labour government ended the badger cull sooner rather than later.

According to the NFU, Bradshaw was "first through the doors" for a meeting with the DEFRA secretary, Steve Reed, after Starmer appointed Reed to the position in July 2024. Bradshaw met with Reed just 72 hours after he was named DEFRA secretary. This was not the first time the two individuals had a face-to-face, as Bradshaw met with Reed in February that year when Reed was shadow DEFRA secretary.

At an NFU reception in Westminster in September, meanwhile, Reed thanked the NFU for its support for all parties during the election. He explained:

"I was all over the country being taken on visits around farms of every shape and variety and I was blown away by the quality of support we were shown."

The majority of people in England oppose the badger cull. If the government is truly committed to 'fighting for the trust' of the public, it must be transparent about its communications with industry representatives on badger cull policy matters, considering the significant access that farming lobby groups like the NFU have to officials.

Research Theft

 Can I just write a few words here that I know will be seen by the person in question. 

When someone has worked on research since 1976 and found rare and lost images as well as gathered all the evidence for fox types that were believed, because of dogma, to be myths that work has taken a LOT of money and time.  

When you take that information and the images and then do a lengthy post making the work appear to be your own and you do not even mention the person who who did all of the work you are stealing research work. You are plagiarising. You are in fact not a true researcher of any kind but a fraud. And you have also breached all of the trust you were given but, thankfully, you have no idea about new research developments and you never will.

Enjoy your plagiarism and keep hoping no one buys the Red Paper 2022 Canids and sees what you have done.

More Historical Image Evidence of an Old W. European Fox

 The full story behind these images -What Does the Fox Sing? on The Newberry Blog here:

https://www.newberry.org/blog/what-does-the-fox-sing?fbclid=IwY2xjawIApWBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWWgAZ_Nhy8v0pgJbspLYdRBMX_Z4z3bPi5awQROuSMPubhkf6duxF21mw_aem_SZ6_OZ76wolkzNuNHk648w

The prints were made in 1490 and the colour work was done in 1517 so the artist doing that colouring would have been familiar with the colour of a fox. This is no modern or late 20th century colouring where the artist decides every fox in history in the UK was red so that's how it will be coloured.

The Vincenzo Capirola, Lutebook, 1517, Newberry Library. VAULT Case MS minus VM 140 .C25 has added one more piece to the puzzle of whether Western Europe, before human migration and red fox symbiotic following of human settlements, had an Old fox type similar to the UK.

It would make logical sense that it did since the foxes trapped in the UK after Doggerland flooded would have been part of a Western European species.  When Ireland was then separated itself from mainland Britain the Old foxes there would have developed to live in the new habitat.

What struck me immediately about the drawings was how close they were to sketches of Old British foxes down to the rough hair as well as the famous Colquhoun mountain fox (one of the last of its type).

19th century sketch of a mountain fox and below the Colquhoun mountain fox killed in the mid 1830 (full details and better photos in The Red Paper)

Access to European museum or private house collections (as we had hoped for in the UK)  would likely turn up even more anecdotal evidence and, perhaps, a taxidermy of an Old W. European fox.

The British Fox Study Has Uncovered The TRUE History of Old Foxes -How Much More Can We Do?

 

At the moment we have submitted 80 foxes for necropsies (post mortem examinations) although two were actually lost at the pathology lab.  We have maintained a strict chain of evidence highlighting where a fox was found, why it was suitable for PM and then where the animal is stored, collected, on its way to deliver to the lab and then when it is delivered our part is done and documented.  So when I refer to two lost foxes in future: We never lost them!

 

I am told, however, that these necropsies will no longer be carried out (long story but it is not an APHA/WNDS dictate).

 

We have learnt a lot about foxes, health issues and many clues are there as to why the population has declined (idiots shooting them for ‘fun’, out of control or deliberate dog attack and cars add deaths to the list). In some other countries even a fox (any wildlife) killed on the roads undergoes PM examination as a matter of course but the UK is so far behind on animal welfare and conservation we will never see this happen (penny pinching is always a good reason).

 

The thing that most people outside the UK cannot understand is why no established bodies or organisations are willing to cooperate in any way –after all the British Fox Study (the British Fox and Wild Canid Study for the last few years) was set up in 1976 and I have documented all of the research work and broken down dogma on foxes so that we finally have a true history of British foxes. Does that not prove how serious the study is?

 

No.

 

We have specimens of the Old now extinct British fox as well as the wild cat and have for some time now been asking and appealing for any DNA labs that can carry out DNA studies (which we simply cannot afford) but any letters/emails are never replied to.  A call to UK museums was 90% fruitless as they only had post 1900 red foxes.  Messages to European museums (with one exception) have been subject to outright dismissal if responded to at all and one ‘expert’ who “studied” red foxes for 30 years would not even consider looking in his museum’s collection for any pre red fox taxidermies (after all his reputation was built on red foxes being the original European fox which they are not.

 

You might think that the possibility of making DNA or other discoveries, opportunities for papers and funding might create some interest but it does not.

 

Even with a 49 year long study and two books on foxes and wildlife research institutes and Research Gate will not accept the Study. You HAVE to be with a university or big commercial company to be accepted and no college or university has the old style biology departments as they were not “sexy” enough to draw in funding.

 

Despite the Bristol Fox Deaths Project –the only one of its kind in the UK (past and present)- that works with the WNDS (Wildlife Network for Disease Surveillance) and APHA (Animal Plant Health Agency), a university and veterinary school and my contact and work with wildlife departments and zoologists around the world the British Fox and Wild Canids Study is…nothing.

 

That is the UK.

 

Really, the Study needs funding for further research work or a lab willing to carry out DNA testing on hair samples because, although the history of Old foxes is fully documented and that we have taxidermy examples we need the harder science to add more.

 

As it stands all we can do is keep documenting the history and that is it. There is no public support and whereas EU funding for projects is there it goes to mainly groups with far younger people (I know that as a fact from the years of applying for grants).

 

Bleak but at least we know the true history of British foxes that were hunted to extinction, even while hunters knew they were dying out, during the Victorian era.