Welcome to Foxx News, your most trusted news source for all things vulpine-related. I’m your host, Reynard Redd.
First up tonight: What is behind the startling decline in Arctic Fox population? Our reporter, Rena Vixen, Reports from the Arctic Circle.
Good evening. Scientists have estimated the Arctic Fox population at approximately 630,000. This represents a precipitous decline over the years. Several explanations have been offered, mostly involving human activity.
Hunting, for example. The high-quality pelts of the Arctic Fox have been prized for centuries and over-exploitation was always a danger. The good news is the demand for the luxurious thick white fur has been declining for many years. Although native populations who live in close proximity to the beautiful animals still hunt them, their activity does not seem to be contributing to the current population decline.
The largest danger today, researchers say, is likely from the many environmental changes due to climate change. Temperatures in the Arctic are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the world which influences everything from declining sea ice, melting permafrost and rising sea levels.
Food sources for the Arctic Fox are also impacted by climate change. Warmer temperatures have led to an increase in lemmings — an Arctic Fox favorite — and other small rodent populations which are their main food source. This would seem to be good news except that this additional food and rising temperatures have allowed the larger and more aggressive Red Fox to migrate north into Arctic Fox territory. The reasons are as yet unclear, but in some areas where the Red Fox moves in, Arctic Fox populations go into decline. One perhaps hopeful sign is, as of right now, Greenland seems to be the best chance for the Arctic Fox’s survival as the red fox population there is rare.
For Foxx News, this is Rena Vixen, reporting from somewhere in the Arctic Circle.
Thank you, Rena.
Next we take you to Scotland where a centuries-old tradition is coming to an end. Our own Kit SlyBoots fills us in.
For over 252 years, members of the Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Hunting Group have followed the music of the hounds as they ride through the Scottish countryside chasing the elusive Red Fox. But that all changed with the passage of the Hunting with Dogs bill by Parliament.
Passed on January 24 and going into effect the following March the bill outlaws the hunting and killing of wild mammals using packs of dogs. The original 2002 bill allowed dogs to chase and flush out a fox as long as the animal was then shot by the hunters. The 2002 bill allowed dog hunts if they were to protect livestock and ground-nesting birds or prevent the spread of disease. This new bill overrides the older bill.
Supporters argued that fox hunting is a distinctive part of British heritage going back to the sixteenth century. Opponents claim fox hunting is a cruel, outdated practice. The sport continues to be legal in Australia, The Republic of Ireland, Canada and several other countries. In the United States some states allow fox hunting while a handful have made it illegal.
As of now, the Scottish Hunting with Dogs bill is merely the latest salvo in the ongoing fox hunting controversy. Back to you, Reynard.
Thank you, Kit.
We hope you enjoyed your time with us this evening. Our mission here at Foxx News is to report on stories of interest to those of you who care about foxes, whether Arctic, Red, Gray or otherwise. We try to be objective and, as always, we try to be fair and balanced.
But, still, we confess we are partial to foxes.
Have a good evening.
(Fade out “Foxy Lady” closing music.)
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
