National Fox Survey

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Digimap Case Study: National Fox Surveys

Authors

Philip J. Baker, Charlotte C. Webbon, Stephen Harris and Graziella Iossa

Title

National Fox Surveys

Date

1999-2000 and 2005-2006

Application Area

Applied ecology

Application to other subject areas

Ecology, animal ecology, education

Project type

National Survey – part of the Tracking Mammals Partnership

Summary

The red fox is the most widespread predatory mammal in the British countryside. The National Fox Surveys aimed 1) to assess the size of the rural red fox (Vulpes vulpes) populations in Britain and 2) if and how these populations are changing. We undertook two surveys: in 1999/2000 and in 2005/2006. In the first we estimated the pre-breeding rural population to be 225,000 adult foxes. Following the first survey, two key changes occurred: the passing of the Hunting Act 2004, which made it illegal to hunt foxes with dogs from February 2005, and an outbreak of sarcoptic mange, a disease lethal to foxes that induces local population reductions of up to 95%. Therefore, we repeated the first survey to assess whether those factors had affected fox numbers. Our preliminary results show that fox numbers are stable and that neither of those factors has had a significant impact on rural fox populations.

Datasets Used

Name: Ordnance Survey maps (Explorer and Landranger series)

Source: Ordnance Survey, Digimap

Aims and Objectives

This project had three main objectives:

to estimate the total pre-breeding population of rural red foxes in Britain;
to assess whether the cessation of hunting and the outbreak of a disease has affected fox numbers; and
to quantify any changes in the size of the rural population of foxes in Britain.

Methodology

In 1999 and 2000 volunteers surveyed 444 1-km squares (taken from Ordnance Survey maps) to assess rural fox population size based on counts of fox droppings. In the 2005/2006 winters, volunteers covered 252 1-km squares of those original 444 surveyed. For each square we calculated the density of scats for each kilometre walked and compared the density of droppings in 2005 and 2006 with those of the original survey.

Additional Information

	Typical fox scats (drawing by Sarah Wroot)
	Figure 1: Example of site surveyed, Inverness area. Photo by Carla Melia

References & Acknowledgements

Tracking Mammals Partnership

For more information on foxes www.thefoxwebsite.org (live from this Wednesday 25th of October)

We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers that made this study possible

Publishing Institution

Mammal Research Unit, School Biological Sciences – University of Bristol