Black Fox Sighted near Ballarat

A Victorian woman, Diane, living near Ballarat recently reported having seen a black fox on her way to Beaufort from Ballarat.

She commented: “I saw the fox when I was driving out to my sisters out at beaufort, it ran out right in front of me, it didn't have the white tip on the tail though. It was last Tuesday 6th March 2012 at approx’ 6pm. It was just after Trawalla.”

While a very rare animal in Australia, black foxes are nonetheless a known part of Australia’s introduced fauna; being a melanistic version of the red fox, known colloquially as a darker variant of the silver fox. These animals have been reported in Australia since the 1920s and on some occasions have been mistaken for melanistic leopards (panthers) and occasionally described as a melanistic puma. One particularly pertinent example was a “Black Panther” reported shot by two youths near Frankston that was later described as a large Black Fox upon investigation by police.[1]

Rebecca Lang, co-author of Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers raised the issue of rare Black Foxes being mistaken for dark coloured big cats. She describes, in particular, an incident where she saw a quadruped which, while moving with a somewhat cat like grace was clearly neither a cat nor a dog. The books then goes on to further refer to a University of Western Australia Fox DNA project after one was shot and brought in for investigation on a property in South Australia.[2]

In the United States the melanistic phase of the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) is much more common than in Australia. The American Red Fox in its Black Colour Morph is described in detail in the Journal of Mammology in terms of, “The Silver-Black fox has the red and fulvous fur replaced by black. White banded guard hairs, which may be present in varying proportions, are responsible for the “silver” effect. The tip of the tail is usually white in all three phases.” [3]

Further to this the article claims that in the United States, Europe and Asia that, “This range in variation of these colour phases constitutes an almost perfect gradation in colour from the Red to the Black Fox. The normal colour of the Red Fox merges through graded bastard foxes into lighter coloured cross foxes, on through progressively darker foxes to full silvers and so through animals having less and less silver to the pure black individual.”

Silver Foxes, a rare but naturally occurring colour variation in Red Foxes, are far more prevalent in Europe and the United states due to their high status as a fur. Their value has led to their being deliberately bred with others of the same colour morph to produce higher quantities of the rare silvery black fur which sold for exorbitant amounts to fur dealers in the 19th century. Silver Foxes bred together invariably lead to a continuation of the colour, particularly after the third generation whereas in mixing with a Red Fox they will produce mixed offspring.[4] The lack of deliberate breeding and harvesting in Australia for the fur trade is a large component of their comparative rarity here in comparison with their European, Asian and American counterparts.

That being said they are, like the far more common red variety, now part of Australia’s ecosystem. If you see one of these rare, beautiful and unique animals consider yourself very lucky indeed, though the impact on native fauna of these introduced species is another matter entirely.

References:

[1] Townsville Daily Bulletin April 26 1940, p7; The Argus April 29 1940, p7.

[2] Williams, M & Lang, R. Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers. Strange Nation Publishing: Hazelbrook. 2010. pp 279-280.

[3] E. C. Cross. “Colour Phases of the Red Fox (Vulpes fulva) in Ontario”. Journal of Mammalogy. Vol. 22, No. 1 (Feb., 1941), pp. 25-39

[4] The Fur Trade of America by Agnes C. Laut, published by Kessinger Publishing, 2004

Fox baiting in Tasmania ramps up

The biggest invasive animal eradication blitz in the world is now moving across two fronts with baiters and dogs heading into Tasmania's Central Highlands and the far North-West.

The Fox Eradication Program's has completed the first stage of its massive fox-baiting operation, laying 3751 baits across 520 properties and 48,000ha between Southport and Hobart.

Detection dogs which follow behind the baiters have not found any fox carcasses or scats.

But Fox Eradication Program manager Craig Elliott says that no news is good news in Tasmania's $27 million fight against giving the fox a foothold.

"It takes about six to eight hours for the baits to have an effect on a fox. From mainland experience a baited fox would go away and curl up in a hollow log or a den to die," Mr Elliott said.

The program involves the laying of 40ml Foxoff and Probait baits which contain 3ml of 1080 poison.

Fox Eradication Program operations manager Nick Bates said the blitz was targeted and carefully designed to minimise risk to Tasmania's native wildlife.

Some Tasmanians have written to federal Environment Minister Tony Burke outlining their concerns the program was putting already-endangered animals at risk of poisoning.

"I call on you immediately to order the cessation of all fox baiting in Tasmania until a thorough, independent investigation is completed," one letter to Mr Burke says.

"I would state that the fox baiting campaign will go down in Tasmania's history as more of a tragedy than the government of the day placing a bounty on the now-extinct thylacine."

The fox that jumped over the big black cat...

CFZer Mike Williams has shared some recent correspondence from Wayne Knight down Victoria way of a suspected 'big cat' kill - this time the victim was a fox.

What do you think?

The photos are certainly interesting!

'Dunes dingo' just a mangy fox

A mystery creature, dubbed the “Dunes Dingo”, has been spotted several times in recent weeks roaming the Tennyson dunes.

The Portside Messenger sent a photo Mr Finder took of the animal to the Dingo Discovery Sanctuary in Victoria, which quickly solved the mystery.
The sanctuary’s Lyn Watson said the animal appeared to be a fox suffering from mange.

“It does look on the large side (for a fox),” Ms Watson said. “The tail carriage points to fox rather than dingo. Foxes do not have control of their tails like dogs or dingoes do.”

Mange is a contagious skin disease caused by parasitic mites.

Tasmania announces fox scat restrictions

Anyone wishing to bring fox or dog scats into Tasmania will require a permit from today.

Chief Veterinary Officer Rod Andrewartha said although there is little reason for scats to be imported, other than for use in trial work and detector dog training associated with the Fox Eradication Program, the permit requirement would further enhance biosecurity.

“The research and detector dog training by the Fox Eradication Program (FEP) has been carried out with good biosecurity practices and has not compromised Tasmania’s freedom from hydatid disease,” Dr Andrewartha said.

“Because of the measures the FEP has in place and the necessity for its work it will be able to continue under the permit system.

Dr Andrewartha said the permit requirement would further assist the State’s Quarantine Services who would continue to be on the lookout for fox and fox product.
    
“Hydatid is present in mainland states and hydatid eggs can be present in scats from foxes or dogs infected with hydatid tapeworms.

Dr Andrewartha said scats from the mainland posed only a small risk in terms of hydatid disease.

“The FED has continually sought advice from my office on biosecurity measures they should have in place while using scats sourced from the mainland as part of their training and evaluation programs.
           
Dr Andrewartha said the new restrictions included the requirement for a permit to possess a fox scat of mainland origin. 

“Fox scats of Tasmanian origin are specifically exempt from this new requirement so that anyone finding a possible fox scat should have no concern about reporting it to the Fox Eradication Program.

Anyone finding a possible fox scat in Tasmania should report it to the Fox Eradication Program Hotline on 1300 369 688.

“The new requirement does not apply to dog faeces in a cage or vehicle that is bringing a dog into Tasmania. Such a dog has to be treated for hydatid tapeworm and therefore its faeces is not a hydatid risk.

The Tasmanian Government and community undertook a successful campaign to eradicate hydatid disease over 30 years, from the mid 1960s through to the mid 1990s.

Tasmania is the only Australian state free of hydatid disease.

Hydatids is a parasitic infection of various animals that can infect humans caused by a small tapeworm which lives in the intestine of dogs and foxes.

The worm eggs are passed out in the faeces and may infect pasture which is then eaten by sheep, goats or cattle as they graze leading to development of hydatid cysts in these animals.

The cycle is completed by dogs or foxes eating the cysts in infected offal. 

Humans can become infected by picking up worm eggs from dogs. The hydatid cysts that may develop in people can cause serious health problems and in some cases have been fatal.

Creatures feature at Tasmanian auction

It will be a taxidermist's delight in Tasmania this week when a lifetime collection of more than 80 stuffed animals goes under the hammer in Hobart tomorrow.

Auctioneer Quenton McDonald of Gowans said a fox was probably the most topical item at the auction because of the obvious interest in fox sightings in Tasmania in recent years.

He expected a mongoose, cobra, penguin and badger to spark interest, too.

Mr McDonald said small items were likely to fetch about $50, with an average-sized deer head selling for about $300 and a larger deer head for about $500. 

Though many would find the auction items macabre, Mr McDonald said they were generating plenty of interest.

And it was not just bohemian hunters with log cabins who would be buying at the auction.

"There is no stereotypical type of person that buys this sort of stuff. We have a broad range of people that have purchased over the years, although it is mainly private collectors," he said.

Restrictions on the sale of some animal products have changed over the years and the auctioneers have had the collection evaluated by the authorities, Mr McDonald said.

"We have to get Parks and Wildlife in to give us the permits that we need [for this type of auction]," Mr McDonald said.

"There are restrictions on what you can and can't sell so they come in and run their eyes over the collection."

OOPA: Fox debate rages on in Tasmania

More than a decade after the reported introduction of foxes to Tasmania many people believe that foxes are established, yet others believe that a breeding population does not exist and never has. The elephant in the living room is that a number of things don’t seem to add up and the living room floor is about to collapse if we ignore these things for much longer.

Biologist Dr Clive Marks questions the science being relied upon, and argues for an independent scientific review of the entire application of the scat-DNA technique to confirm once and for all the validity of OOPA foxes in Tasmania.

Elsewhere on the same site, biologist Nick Mooney addresses many of the issues Dr Marks raises, and confirms $20 million has so far been spent trying to discover if foxes really are in Tasmania - and cautions sceptics not to 'throw the baby out with the bath water' when contemplating the existence of Vulpes vulpes in the island state. 

Overseas readers may wonder what the big deal is...the fox is obviously not native to Australia and, until relatively recently, the island state of Tasmanian was considered fox free. So is it or isn't it? That is the question...

OOPA: Foxes in Tasmania

The debate surrounding the possible existence of the cunning and elusive Tasmanian fox (Vulpes vuples) has once again reared its head after a fox was reportedly spotted near the state's capital, Hobart, this week.

Farmer Bob Judd saw what he believes was a fox on his property this week.

"I grew up on a farm in South Australia and I know exactly what a fox looks like," he said. "There was this red apparition running like lightning, grease lightning, up the hill and it was a fox - it had a red bushy tail and all the rest of it."

Officers from the Fox Eradication Program have taken detection dogs down to the property to locate the animal. The Manager of the Fox Eradication Program Alan Johnston, says more than 2,000 fox sightings have been reported since 2002.

Foxes were introduced to Australia in the 1850s by English settlers, but Tasmania remained fox-free until the 1990s when evidence of their presence began turning up.

The fox has inflicted enormous impacts on the native wildlife of Australia, being implicated in the extinction of many native animals.

Tasmanians can report fox sightings and any other evidence (unusual scats, den sites, stock kills) to the FOX HOTLINE 1300 FOX OUT (1300 369 688).

Plight of the Dingo

We were impressed with Australian Alison Oborn's dedication to the preservation of the dingo, Australia's own (albeit imported) wild dog. Here's a piece she wrote challenging the argument that the dingo should be exterminated:

"The dingo isn't native to Australia and only arrived here 3500-4500 years ago. ­ It is just a mongrel dog from Asia and we should just kill the whole bloody lot.

I often hear and read this stance used as an argument as to why the dingo should have no place here on Australian shores and should in fact be kept on the vermin list. It is very effective in convincing the average person that this animal is feral and non native to Australia and so should be classified in the newly arrived feral category such as the fox, the cat and the rabbit.

It is used time and time again in the belief that it will help their cause to eradicate this ecologically important animal, and many do actually accept this without putting too much thought into just how long 4000 years really is in the time line.

Let me help put this into perspective for you - let's take a brief look at history.

We will start at approximately 4000 years ago when the dingo was thought to have first arrived on our shores:·

• The Sumerians were still in existence, although about to disappear as recognisable people after being over run by the Amorites.
• Babylon existed and was heavily into agriculture·
• Troy was also in existence.·
• The Sahara desert was still fertile and green.·
• The wheel was just being introduced, especially on the Egyptian chariots. ·
• Although metal was being introduced for tools in certain circles and areas, the average person was still using stone tools.
• During the dingo's first 1000 years here in Australia, great names such as Confucius, King Solomon, Homer, Pythagoras, Ramses II were living out their lives around the world.
• During the next thousand years the likes of Socrates and Plato and Alexander the Great were now living out their lives too.
• The dingo had already been in Australia approx 1500-2000 years when Stonehenge was being built in the UK, when Sparta (yes, that nation featured in the movie 300) was still strong and the Roman Empire was contemplating expansion.

I could point out many more events that give you an idea of just how long the dingo really has been Australian, but I think you will be starting to understand the reality of how ludicrous this non-native argument is by now.

These animals have been on our shores a long time and have certainly had plenty of time to adapt and become an integral part of the ecosystem. Studies show that they keep the ecosystem healthy and to lose our apex predator would impact greatly on this fragile land.

Some elements of the farming community will also have us believe that these dingoes are responsible for the 20 native species of fauna that have disappeared off our shores over the last 200 years or so. They would have you believe that the dingo is munching it's way relentlessly through our wildlife and so is a scourge to the nation.

The question I would be asking these people is how come this has only become a major problem in the last 200 years or so and not for the prior 4000 years before that?

Why is it that this appalling extinction rate seems to coincide with the arrival of white Europeans to this shore, who brought with them European farming practices, which were never sustainable or suitable for such an ancient and fragile continent.

I will finish with one more important event to remember to bring things into true perspective, our dingo had already been trotting round and adapting to our Australian bush for approximately 2000 years before the most famous name known to the western world was born in Bethlehem.

Yes...our dingo was well established here in our ecosystem when Jesus Christ was born and true Christianity as we know it began.

Surely after all this time, the dingo has earned a title of Australian Native and not the 'feral pest' that it has at the moment.

Maybe instead of driving yet another mammalian species into extinction, we should be finding a middle ground with the agricultural industry and the environmentalists and put these wrongs right and save this magnificent species before all we are left with are photos and the condemnation of future generations."

Well said Alison!

Visit her Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Plight-of-the-Dingo/394141060082?ref=ts&v=wall

You can also read an enlightening article about how the dingo may be helping to save other Australian native animals here: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/1450/dingo-may-save-australian-wildlife

And another thing - look how smart they are! http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2928438.htm

On a final note - guess what dog breed features a dingo in its lineage? The Red and Blue Heeler (also known as the Australian Cattle Dog)! By crossing native Dingoes with Collies and other herding dogs, Australian George Elliott developed the Red Heeler, also known as the Australian Cattle Dog, in 1840. Farmers were impressed with the breed’s toughness and work ethic, and they quickly became popular as cattle herders. Red and Blue Heelers continue to be popular today among farmers and pet owners, who value their intelligence and companionship.