He wags his tail and would like to cuddle with the carers. We are not talking regarding an abandoned puppy, but rather “Fuchsi”. The youngest problem child of the Austrian Animal Welfare Organization has apparently forgotten that he is not a dog.
The young wild animal was probably only a few days old when it was found by a woman. She meant well for the fox cub and took it home with her, where she raised it by hand. “Fuchsi” grew up with a dog, from whom it adopted some of its behavior. At four months old, however, its owner had to accept that she might no longer meet this challenge, as problems with other animals also arose.
“We don’t want to blame the lady at all, she only meant well,” says animal shelter manager Stephan Scheidl in an interview with the OÖN. Of course, a baby fox is cute, and you can quickly develop real maternal feelings. However, you shouldn’t raise it alone, but take it straight to the animal shelter. “It’s mainly regarding professional errors,” says Scheidl. As we can now see with “Fuchsi.”
Contact with people is avoided
Unfortunately, the four-legged friend is completely misinformed at four months old. He behaves like a dog, wags his tail, jumps up at people and cries when he is left alone. At first he had to be quarantined for safety reasons. Now he is slowly getting used to the other foxes who also live in the animal shelter. “Of course they also notice that he is different. Right now they are living next to each other so they can get to know each other,” says the animal shelter manager. In the best case scenario, “Fuchsi” will take on the social behavior and skills of the other foxes.
The aim is always to be able to release wild animals back into the wild, explains Scheidl. Of course, they hope to do the same with Fuchsi. Many of the animals’ behaviors are innate. They hope to be able to bring them out once more through contact with other animals. Contact with keepers, however, is currently being avoided. The food is thrown into the enclosure from further away. If it is no longer possible to release the little fox back into the wild, he can of course stay in the animal shelter. After all, he can still live up to 15 years.