Britain’s biggest fox killed
March 5th, 2012 - 8:53 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattLondon, Mar 5 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A 17.2kg fox, believed to be the biggest in the United Kingdom, has been shot dead. The animal was killed after it attacked a lamb farm in Aberdeenshire last week.
The animal’s length, from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, measures 4ft 9in making it one of the longest ever found. On the average, foxes weigh about 6.8kg so at the weight of 17kg, the slain fox is more than twice the weight of the average fox.
The animal was killed by 69-year-old Alan Hepworth. He revealed that he shot the animal in the farm of a friend. Hepworth said killing the animal was the best option under the circumstance.
He was quoted by BBC as saying that, “We take no real pleasure from it. It’s just what we have to do to stop them getting out of control. We have to shoot foxes to keep on top of them, and stop them from killing the lambs. It was late at night, and this particular fox caught our eye because it was such an incredible size.”
Wildlife officials say recent surveys have shown that British foxes are getting bigger. A senior research scientist at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), Jonathan Reynolds, told reporters that the only plausible explanation for the increase in the animals’ sizes is that they are getting closer to urban areas are now being fed better.
- 'Biggest Ever' fox caught in Britain - Jan 03, 2011
- Britain braces for deadly sheep virus - Aug 09, 2012
- Rabid fox bites golfer - May 18, 2011
- T Rex was able to outpace any prey due to its strong tail: Study - Nov 17, 2010
- Mythical 'goat sucker' chupacabra shot by US man - Dec 28, 2010
- Weight Watchers' members lose twice as many kilos - Sep 08, 2011
- Four arrested for poaching peacocks in Rajasthan - Jun 17, 2012
- 15st man 'mugged by fox' for garlic bread - Mar 08, 2012
- Drew Carey and his weight loss on GMA - Aug 06, 2010
- Sundarbans tigers are 'half the weight of other Bengal tigers in South Asia' - Oct 04, 2010
- Britain's Giant red Exmoor Emperor shot dead - Oct 25, 2010
- Neolithic engineers 'used ball bearings in Stonehenge construction' - Nov 19, 2010
- 100 crocodiles escape from flood-hit Thailand farm - Oct 11, 2011
- Brit couple lose 15st after being made to sit apart on plane - Mar 17, 2010
- Reynolds, Bullock team up again for TV series - Aug 30, 2011
Tags: animals, bbc, circumstance, conservation trust, fox, foxes, game and wildlife, jonathan, jonathan reynolds, lamb farm, lambs, london, plausible explanation, pleasure, research scientist, surveys, united kingdom, urban areas, wildlife conservation, wildlife officials