Wednesday 7 March 2012

'Britain's biggest fox' killed

The huge specimen was bagged by Alan Hepworth near his home in Aberdeenshire and weighed 38lb 1oz.
Measuring 4ft 9in from head to tail it is almost three times the size of an average fox.
The animal is the latest in a series of extraordinarily large foxes killed recently in Britain, prompting fears over the threat they pose to livestock and humans.
Experts believe the explosion in the fox population in urban areas where food waste is abundant could explain the supersize creatures.
Mike Yardley, a spokesman for the Shooting Sports Trust, said: “The increase in the urban fox population means that some foxes now have the opportunity to eat much more than they have in the past. That could explain why we are seeing some of these larger examples.”
Jonathan Reynolds, senior research scientist at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, added: “A 35lb fox would have been unthinkable a few years ago. We don’t know why they are getting bigger, but one possible explanation is that they are getting better fed in urban areas.”
Mr Hepworth’s specimen surpasses a 4ft 3in dog fox weighing 35lb 5oz which was killed by financial adviser Roy Lupton in East Grinstead, West Sussex in January.
The previous record was thought to be a 26.5lb fox caught by vet Keith Talbot at his parents’ home in Maidstone, Kent in 2010.
The average fox weighs between 12 and 18lb, experts claim.
There have been a number of reported fox attacks on domestic pets and livestock in recent months, while there has also been a rise in brazen foxes entering people's homes.
In June 2010, nine-month-old twins Lola and Isabella Koupparis were mauled by a fox in their cot at their home in East London while shortly afterwards three-year-old Jake Jermy was bitten on the arm by a fox in a playground in Brighton.

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