Excellent shot, but I wish you hadn't been able to take it. I know that it would be very difficult to make the zoo totally and permanently fox proof, and that the enclosures should protect the vulnerable species - but think of havoc that guy could cause among the flamingoes for example.
Excellent shot, but I wish you hadn't been able to take it. I know that it would be very difficult to make the zoo totally and permanently fox proof, and that the enclosures should protect the vulnerable species - but think of havoc that guy could cause among the flamingoes for example.
I agree that foxes can be a problem in zoo environments, not just as a danger to the small mammals and the birds, but also to the other visitors. This one was completely unfazed by me and AG photographing it, and only really moved when some other visitors got a bit closer. I imagine that tamer foxes could easily get a bite in.
Still, an experience to see it and I'm sure that the zoo is perfectly equip to defend their livestock against native species
They often aren't... Historically Bristol Zoo has always had a fox problem- they used to come in over the high wall or under the entrance gates and take Penguins, Waterfowl etc. More recently they had to cover their open Flamingo enclosure near the entrance and turn it into an Aviary to prevent Fox access.
Not a zoo situation but the Great Bustard reintroduction project on Salisbury Plain seems to be compromised by continuing Fox Predation too and they don't seem to have solved this problem, yet.
Nice shot by the way and I do like Foxes- in the right places!
The other issue with wild foxes is disease. I'm not sure the keepers looking after the Bush Dogs and Hunting Dogs will be thrilled with this photo - excellent shot though it is!
The other issue with wild foxes is disease. I'm not sure the keepers looking after the Bush Dogs and Hunting Dogs will be thrilled with this photo - excellent shot though it is!
I'm sure the keepers are all aware that the zoo gets foxes, and that this photo will not come as a surprise. I would be interested to know what zoos don't get foxes on their grounds, after all [like rats and mice] there is a lot to attract a scavenging species like this.
I would be interested to know what zoos don't get foxes on their grounds, after all [like rats and mice] there is a lot to attract a scavenging species like this.
If a small Zoo like Bristol, which has a high wall round the perimeter, has problems keeping them out, I doubt many places can, unless they have a 'fox proof' fence-some Bird Gardens/Wildfowl Trusts etc perhaps?
At a Zoo in Germany(Wuppertal) some years ago a young Gorilla ingested a tapeworm from a Fox dropping and subsequently died, so their presence can have quite far reaching consequences in Zoos.
Howletts had a problem about 10 years ago of foxes predating the mara, which then had to be moved to one of the gorilla cages at port lympne for their own protection! I like foxes but as said they must be a nusiance to zoos!
