The fox and the bag: a modern fable

A statue of a fox, as long as 16 meters with a height of over 10 meters, with a bag between its teeth sits in the middle of the Dutch city Rotterdam (Smets, 2024). It is locally known as the Bospoldervos, created by Hofman in 2020. Not without reason, because precisely in this part of town many foxes have been observed lately. The foxes likely spread from the dunes surrounding Hoek van Holland. The first sightings in the city itself stem from 1993 (De Baerdemaeker et al., 2011).

The citizens of Rotterdam wondered for weeks what the fox would carry in its bag. They even set up a contest in search of the answer to this question. Unfortunately, the question remains unresolved, so that everyone can fill in the answer for themselves. Some will say that the fox brings something while others will propose it mainly takes things away from the city. Because like always, there are supporters and opponents and this is no different for the presence of foxes. However, Rotterdam is not the only city where foxes can be found these days, as they tend to invade many urban areas around the globe.

At first glance, cities seem to be extremely challenging environments for carnivorous animals such as foxes. The high abundance of roads and buildings has led to an increase in habitat fragmentation. Moreover, natural conditions such as water availability, temperature, and the amount of light are also altered in cities (Kimmig, 2021). Still, foxes, especially red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), do not seem to be impeded too much by these changes. Actually, these small carnivores can be found in many cities all over the world, from the Netherlands and England to the United States and even Sydney (Wilkinson & Smith, 2001; Peterson et al., 2020). This is mainly due to the fact that foxes have been shown to have great adaptability to different environments. It is therefore not without reason that this generalist species is considered the most widely distributed carnivore in the world (Díaz‐Ruiz et al., 2015).

Nevertheless, for a fox to thrive in an urban area several requirements have to be met. Firstly, foxes need so-called dens, which normally are holes dug into the ground used as a breeding site or simply for daytime resting (Bateman & Fleming, 2012). In urban areas, patio tables function just as well. Secondly, reliable and diverse food sources are of course crucial for urban carnivores. In cities, red foxes mainly use small rodents, birds, livestock, and roadkill as their food source, but sometimes even deliberate feeding by humans occurs (Bateman & Fleming, 2012). Lastly, in certain parts of the world such as the United States, living in an urban area might decrease the chance of predation by other animals (Bateman & Fleming, 2012). However, it should be mentioned that this is more of a local requirement because in The Netherlands and England, red foxes do not have natural enemies. Interestingly, behaviour of the red fox also seems to play a role. Normally, a rural fox is mostly a solitary animal, however, it was found that at higher population densities, as is often the case in cities, foxes switch their behaviour towards a more social species (Dorning & Harris, 2019).

Logically, the occurrence of foxes in cities will also have an impact on both the local ecosystem as well as humans. The main concern that arises due to the presence of urban foxes is the increased risk of diseases. This can pose potentially life-threatening infections in both humans and pets. The most common diseases red foxes transmit is dependent on the geographical area of the fox in question. For example, In Estonia and other parts of Europe, the fox tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis) occurs, which in a worst-case scenario can lead to severe liver damage that is potentially lethal (Plumer et al., 2014). Even though rabies is mostly eradicated in Western Europe, in large parts of Asia and Africa this disease is still prevalent (WOAH, 2024). For instance, it was found in a survey conducted in Iran that almost 17% of urban foxes were infected with rabies (Akhtardanesh et al., 2024).

What further facilitates the spread of these diseases is the increase in human-wildlife interactions. This is thought to be attributable to the ever-growing urbanization as well as the general increase in the global human population. (Padovani et al., 2020). In general, there is not too great a chance of encountering a fox carrying disease but with the increasing population size of urban foxes, this also increases the amount of subordinate foxes. Contrary to more dominant foxes, these individuals have less neophobia, which is the repulsion for novel stimuli such as food items or locations and are more likely to take risks (Padovani et al., 2020). This means that due to these traits, higher population of foxes will likely drastically increase the amount of encounters foxes will have with both pets and humans, thus elevating the risk of transmitting disease.

On the other hand, does the fox really only spread negativity? In a survey conducted in the United States that aimed to unravel the public attitude towards urban foxes, it was found that in general citizens did not mind having small carnivores, including red foxes, wander around the city. It actually made them feel like they were more connected with nature (Nardi et al., 2020). Finally, a photo shoot of the daily life of city foxes and decide for yourself whether you like them as your next-door neighbour or not.

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References:

Akhtardanesh, B., Khedri, J., Tokasi, M., Tazerji, S. S., Shokrollahi, N., Sadeghi, B., Poursina, M., Malik, Y. S., & Hajipour, P. (2024). Survey of Common Infectious Diseases in Urban Foxes (Vulpes spp.) in Southeastern Iran. Journal Of Wildlife Diseases, 60(1). https://doi.org/10.7589/jwd-d-23-00028

De Baerdemaeker, A., De Zwarte, N., Jaarsma, S., bureau Stadsnatuur Rotterdam, & Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam. (2011). Natuurlijk Rotterdam. In De Vos Verovert Nieuwe Streken. https://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/documents-nmr/Straatgras/Straatgras_2011/Straatgras_2011_nummer_5/Straatgras_nummer_5_2011_De_vos_verovert_nieuwe_streken.pdf

Bateman, P. W., & Fleming, P. A. (2012). Big city life: carnivores in urban environments. Journal Of Zoology, 287(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00887.x

Díaz‐Ruiz, F., Caro, J., Delibes‐Mateos, M., Arroyo, B., & Ferreras, P. (2015). Drivers of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) daily activity: prey availability, human disturbance or habitat structure? Journal Of Zoology, 298(2), 128–138. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12294

Dorning, J., & Harris, S. (2019). Individual and seasonal variation in contact rate, connectivity and centrality in red fox (Vulpes vulpes) social groups. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56713-3

Gil-Fernández, M., Harcourt, R., Newsome, T., Towerton, A., & Carthey, A. (2020). Adaptations of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) to urban environments in Sydney, Australia. Journal Of Urban Ecology, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juaa009

Kimmig, S. (2021). The ecology of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in urban environments. https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-32203

Nardi, A., Shaw, B., Brossard, D., & Drake, D. (2020). Public attitudes toward urban foxes and coyotes: the roles of perceived risks and benefits, political ideology, ecological worldview, and attention to local news about urban wildlife. Human Dimensions Of Wildlife, 25(5), 405–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2020.1748768

Padovani, R., Shi, Z., & Harris, S. (2020). Are British urban foxes (Vulpes vulpes) “bold”? The importance of understanding human–wildlife interactions in urban areas. Ecology And Evolution, 11(2), 835–851. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7087

Peterson, M., Baglieri, M., Mahon, K., Sarno, R. J., Ries, L., Burman, P., & Grigione, M. M. (2020). The diet of coyotes and red foxes in Southern New York. Urban Ecosystems, 24(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-01010-5

Plumer, L., Davison, J., & Saarma, U. (2014). Rapid Urbanization of Red Foxes in Estonia: Distribution, Behaviour, Attacks on Domestic Animals, and Health-Risks Related to Zoonotic Diseases. PloS One, 9(12), e115124. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115124

Smets, S. (2024). Bospoldervos. BKOR. Retrieved June 14, 2024 from https://www.bkor.nl/documentatie/bospoldervos/

Wilkinson, D., & Smith, G. C. (2001). A preliminary survey for changes in urban Fox (Vulpes vulpes) densities in England and Wales, and implications for rabies control. Mammal Review, 31(1), 107–110. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2907.2001.00076.x

World Organisation for Animal Health. (2024). Rabies – WOAH – World Organisation for Animal Health. WOAH – World Organisation For Animal Health. Retrieved June 14, 2024 from https://www.woah.org/en/disease/rabies/#:~:text=Although%20it%20has%20been%20eliminated,health%20resources%20and%20preventative%20treatment

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Featured photo: © Otto Snoek