In this daring rescue a bloodied red fox is relieved of its helpless plight after dangling by its tail suspended in mid air for hours.
This footage reveals a member of the red fox family, known as Vulpes vulpes, stuck with its tail caught between the slightly bent panel of a closed wooden fence. The animal has obviously been there for quite some time due to the amount of flies swarming the mangled body part. The young fox is in robust condition and flailing helplessly against his unlikely assailant.
The Wildlife Aid Foundation is a nonprofit organization located in Surrey, UK, just south of London. Their mission is to rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife utilizing the resources of their dedicated veterinary hospital in Leatherhead. The organization on average handles more than 20,000 wildlife rescues per year and in the majority of cases the rehabilitated animals are successfully returned to their native habitats.
In this video, a team from the Wildlife Aid Foundation is called upon to help the trapped adult fox. Upon arrival, they note the seriousness of the situation, the state of the body part, and the animal’s excessive blood loss.
The rescuer acts quickly and intelligently, sliding a restraint device around the fox’s head in order to hold it still then ushering the cameraman to slowly pull open the fence. The red fox is freed and shuttled to the veterinary hospital in Leatherhead where it is quickly intubated and placed under anesthesia before undergoing extensive amputation surgery.
Upon recovery, the tail-less red fox is released back into the wild and scampers off in healthy condition thanks to the team at the Wildlife Aid Foundation.
Britain boasts a diverse wildlife population consisting primarily of birds, squirrels, snakes, rabbits, deer, and foxes, many of which are at risk due to the negative impacts of a growing human population. As a result, millions of animals per year are injured or killed.