On Fox (and Badger) Extinction -Nothing New

 

 Regarding the previous post on fox population status The results should also be parallel with the badger cull areas as chief zones for killing, shooting and fox hunting . The main Royal estates and grouse estates will have decline in foxes as killing a fox is seen to protect nesting birds that are destined to be shot for 'fun' later.

I think that the problem is if you have shooters who enjoy killing wildlife (badgers) for money then if they are not seeing enough badgers to kill they will shoot anything else and foxes are a prime target. I write that based on having talked and dealt with shooters from 1977-2017 and though most do the work as "pest control" they are not; shooting rabbits all night may earn them money but shooting the main predator of rabbits, foxes, only allows the rabbit population to increase. Unless that is the intention to keep the work coming in? There is in nature a natural prey-predator ratio and that is a scientific fact that anyone can look up online or (dare I write it?) by reading a book.

No one outside the UK understands the badger cull which is based on very poor science and may even refer to badgers as "scapegoat species". A "scapegoat species" is usually chosen when bad animal husbandry and over killing by humans needs to have blame put elsewhere.

If 100,000 badgers killed on the roads you add that to 250,000 killed 'legally' then that is 350,000 and that is before including illegal shooting, baiting and snaring which might account for another 1000 per year(?). With foxes they reckon a similar number of 100,000 killed on the roads and based on what we've seen in Bristol I reckon that is an under estimate and we know farmers like to shoot any fox they see, we have snarers and of course "fun shooters" claiming to kill at least 200 a month while some claim the total in England is 500 'for fun'.

Dog foxes, vixens, cubs -all 'fun' and that means the breeding population declines but the 'fun shooters' are not worried about that as the odd straying pet dog or cat are equally 'fun' to shoot and I would not be surprised if a figure of 150,000 fox deaths per year was estimated. If people were not treating mange I think we would easily see 200,000 as a good estimate of deaths per year and we need to include parvovirus, babesia, pneumonia, heart and lung worm to fox killers.

We know that the Old types of British fox were hunted to extinction (even though the 'sportsmen' of the time predicted the extinction) by the 1860s. The wild cat was, in 1899, officially recorded as becoming extinct c 1860s. At the same time the red squirrel was also driven to extinction and importing these animals to continue the 'fun' was still going in the 1920s. In the case of the drop of red squirrel numbers the scapegoat species became the grey squirrel. This was to cover up the fact that humans were shooting and poisoning as well as trapping and killing red squirrels "because". Today private estates and commercial forestry are still killing off red squirrels as "vermin" -just as the New wild cats are..

The reason why so many species in the UK have "European DNA" is because their ancestors were imported from Europe to hunt -hares and various species of deer that had been wiped out in various areas.

The "Great Scarcity" of 1923 was likely a near extinction for foxes that took decades to recover and hunting records from the 1940s prove this. In fact, in the 1940s and 1960s the number of foxes killed was "estimated" as hunts attempted to show that there were "so many". Even authors at the time gave a nod and a wink to this lie.

Following the introduction of myxomatosis to the UK 70 years ago the loss of the foxes main prey item also resulted in large numbers of foxes dying off and was, again, at the point of near extinction in England.

It is in their 2004 review of the Red fox in Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Dogs, that David Macdonald and Jonathan Reynolds note that, globally:

” ... roughly 75% of foxes die in their first year, and thereafter mortality is approximately 50% in each adult year.”

Sadly, the Bristol Fox Deaths Register confirms this. A fox lasting 1 year is known as a Cub. If it survives to 2 years it is an Adult. After 3 years it is considered Old.   I know that people pay very little attention to these facts and that I am just one voice shouting out but we need to seriously -with the full power of the law- preserve what wild species we have left and in the case of the fox place it on the Red List and politics and "financial donations" (bribes) be damned.

I think in 20 years foxes and badgers will be very rare indeed.

Is It Now Time For The UK Red Fox To Finally Be Red Listed?

 

 People keep ignoring what I write and say so it is good when an organisation I have no connection to and which in the past has refused to cooperate with me publishes similar findings. I stated what has been concluded here back in 2010's Red Paper Canids as well as updated it fore 2022's Red Paper.  

The Red fox in the UK is facing extinction..again

“If this trend is real then in 24 years the Red Fox has declined by 50% in numbers – halved! If this were a bird, and it clearly isn’t, it would be on the UK red list”.

Credit Mark Avery, Senior Conservationist.

Yes, At Times I AM "That" Person On Twitter

  Natural England @NaturalEngland · 22h Confirmation of the go live date for #BiodiversityNetGain legislation is good news for #NatureRecovery.

 We have worked with Defra and developers, landowners, local authorities, and environmental NGOs, on the policy to ensure development has a positive impact on biodiversity.

My response: "So could you NOW stop the wholesale slaughter of badgers over bad science and start looking at everything from outlawing snares and people who go out every night shooting wildlife for fun? "

They never reply of course. 

Think Fox

 

How Many Animals Killed On UK Roads Each Year -it should keep you awake at night

 

National Road Death Survey The Mammal Society 2001

There have been warnings that common mammal species such as hedgehogs, badgers and hares might be declining and face local extinction in certain parts of Europe primarily due to road casualties. In Britain annual road casualties are estimated to account for 100,000 foxes, 100,000 hedgehogs, 50,000 badgers and 30,000-50,000 deer. There is also concern regarding particular bird of prey species such as the barn owl, which is dramatically over-represented in the total number of wildlife road casualties compared with other bird of prey species. For these reasons, The Mammal Society, in collaboration with the Hawk and Owl Trust, undertook a nationwide survey to identify trends in road and habitat characteristics associated with mammal and bird of prey wildlife road casualties.

For one year, in 2000/2001, 281 volunteers from across Britain recorded wild mammal and bird of prey casualties on all road categories except designated trunk roads and motorways, which were excluded on the grounds of safety. A number of habitat and road characteristic variables were recorded at each casualty location including the speed limit, proximity to a bend, presence or absence of a connecting wildlife corridor (e.g. a stream, railway line or hedgerow), and the adjacent land use, verge habitats and highway boundary features Regional differences in casualty rates were also investigated. Volunteers were also requested to record road and habitat data at non- casualty locations along their route so that characteristics occurring disproportionately more frequently at casualty locations than at non-casualty locations could be identified.

Volunteers recorded 5675 mammal casualties and 142 bird of prey casualties. Figures 1 and 2 show the principal mammal and bird of prey road casualty species as proportions of the total number of casualties. The hedgehog was the most numerous mammal casualty recorded (29% of mammal casualties), followed by badger (25%) and fox (19%). The most numerous bird of prey road casualty recorded was the tawny owl (25% of casualties), followed by kestrel (19%) and then barn owl (16%). Casualties as a proportion of British pre-breeding population size were highest for the badger, fox and barn owl.

Habitat and road features influencing the presence/absence of wildlife road casualties are shown in Table 1. The casualty locations of a number of mammal species, including fox, badger and muntjac, and also the barn owl and kestrel were associated with adjacent linear habitat features that connect with road verges and thus funnel wildlife toward traffic. High traffic speed increased the likelihood of many mammal species, including fox, badger and roe deer, and also the tawny owl, falling victim to vehicles as it reduces the time available for drivers and animals to react to danger. Adjacent land use and region were important factors influencing wildlife road casualty locations and appeared to reflect foraging activity and population density. For example, roe deer and tawny owl road casualties were associated with adjacent woodland habitat and badger casualties were disproportionately high in the south-west of England.

Due to the impact of road casualties it has been suggested that barn owls are unable to sustain viable breeding populations in close proximity to trunk roads and motorways and that road casualties may even be responsible for suppressing the populations of some of our common mammal species on a local scale. There are also a significant number of human fatalities and a considerable economic cost associated with collisions between vehicles and wildlife. There is therefore, a conservation and economic argument for substantial investment in wildlife accident prevention. This study has highlighted typical casualty hotspot locations where such mitigation measures should be implemented.

We are extremely grateful for the tremendous effort of all the volunteers who participated in the survey, all of whom will be sent a summary report in the near future.

By Lincoln Garland

Figure 1. Mammal road casualty proportions

 

 

 

 

Figure 2. Bird of prey road casualty proportions

 

 

 

 The 4% between unknown and little owl pertains to sparrowhawks

Table 1. Habitat and road features influencing the presence/absence of wildlife road casualties

 

	Adjacent verge habitat	Adjacent land use	Adjacent highway boundary	Connecting Wildlife corridor	Road speed limit	Proximity to a road bend	Region
Mammals	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
Hedgehog	ns	√ (urban)	√ (ditch)	ns	ns	ns	ns
Hare	ns	√ (arable)	√ (ditch)	ns	ns	√ (no bend)	√ (north England)
Grey squirrel	√ (wooded)	√ (urban and woodland)	ns	ns	ns	ns	√ (south-east)
Rat	ns	√ (urban)	ns	ns	ns	√ (on bend)	ns
Fox	ns	ns	ns	√	√	ns	ns
Stoat	ns	ns	√ (ditch)	√	√	ns	ns
Weasel	ns	ns	ns	√	ns	ns	ns
Polecat/ferret	ns	√ (pasture)	ns	√	ns	ns	ns
Mink	ns	ns	ns	√	ns	ns	ns
Badger	ns	√ (pasture)	√ (ditch & hedge)	√	√	ns	√ (south-west)
Roe deer	ns	√ (woodland)	√ (ditch)	ns	√	ns	ns
Muntjac	√ (wooded)	ns	√ (ditch and treeline)	√	√	ns	ns
Birds of prey	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
Kestrel	ns	√ (arable)	ns	√	ns	ns	ns
Barn owl	ns	√ (arable)	√ (no hedge)	√	ns	ns	ns
Tawny owl	ns	√ (woodland)	ns	ns	√	ns	ns

ns – non-significant

√ - significant

Here we have to remember that these are just reports gathered through volunteers and so fox 19% and badger 25% seems to be a little off when the Society states that an estimated 100,000 foxes and 50,000badgers are killed each year on UK roads. In fact, animals killed on roads or being hit by cars are rarely reported as the attitude exists that "animals should not be on the road" and "what's the point of reporting a dead animal?" -something I hear all too often. 

For a country calling itself a "nation of animal lovers" this is literally widespread slaughter on an industrial scale when put alongside hundreds of mammals (and birds) killed each week for shooters 'sport' and the 'legal; killing of 250,000 badgers to stop supposed bovine TB spread. 

With road casualties we know that otters, foxes, badgers and deer are killed daily and in many cases along certain and very specific stretches of road. Yet, there is, unlike most wildlife conscious countries, no use or building of wildlife over or underpasses to stop the casualties. Why not? It might cause a few delays in journeys during building? That is far more preferable than having to record more and more wildlife deaths especially of protected species such as otters and badgers.

Just from the 2023 Bristol Fox and Badger Death Registers we can highlight the areas/roads where most deaths occur and when it comes to otters we know the main road where deaths happen. The UKs local and national 'policies' on environment and conservation are a joke at best and a smoke screen/lie at worse.

Firstly, it might be worth the Home Office examining the widespread use of firearms for 'sport' because on most of the shooters' online pages they brag about the wildlife (and other animals) they have killed and post photographs of themselves with their 'trophies' and yet, the law states (in the case of foxes for instance) that they may be "controlled" if a threat top livestock. So the killing of "hundreds" according to 'sportsmen' of foxes every month is illegal -what livestock are foxes able to take down (and ignore the false lamb claim) especially on the outskirts of towns and cities where foxes mainly feed on rodents and wild rabbits?

Why are fox numbers tumbling i9n the UK? Well, traffic for one and the other is the killing of breeding pairs of foxes as well as cubs.  The number of vixens we record being killed by cars alone shows that there are simply not enough to continue breeding a strong and healthy population and so many are suffering from illnesses and not recovering -the 100,000 per year is looking a tad slim compared to the probable actual number of fox deaths each year in total.

And, yes, I am aware that some shooters include off duty police officers so perhaps the blind eye of the law is blind for a reason?

We need to tackle decline in wildlife while we still can and when you also consider that Mammal Society report was from 2001 and that traffic has increased greatly since then it becomes something that should keep people concerned with wildlife and conservation up at night. It does me.

We need to construct wildlife underpasses and regulate shooting for 'sport'.  We also need to legally come down hard on estates and those who allow the killing of protected and reintroduced birds of prey etc. That or just watch as wildlife disappear.