EXCLUSIVE: A hungry-looking fox has seemingly made its new headquarters in Sydney’s trendy inner-west after being spotted numerous times over the past month, including in the grounds of several local schools where scraps have been much harder to come by because of the Covid lockdown. Serkan Ozturk reports.
A wily, ravenous fox has been seen doing the rounds across Sydney’s inner-west, with the wild animal spotted on numerous occasions over the past month in the suburbs of Ashfield, Burwood and Croydon.
Photos show the fox has been seen inside the school grounds of Burwood Girls High School as well as at the Holy Innocents’ Catholic Primary School across the road on Queen Street.
The fox was also spotted on the morning of Friday, October 8 just near the private Presbyterian Ladies’ College situated near Croydon train station.
The fox has as well been sighted near the canal that runs adjacent to the Ashfield Aquatic Centre, situated on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Frederick Street, Ashfield.
The canal is believed to act as a “highway” for the fox, allowing it to travel and cover distances quickly.
Photos of the fox seen inside the grounds of Burwood Girls High School and Holy Innocents’ Catholic Primary School in Sydney’s inner-west (Images: Facebook / Supplied)
Locals have taken to Facebook neighbourhood groups to warn each other of the fox.
“They are a feral pest that kills native fauna as well as small pets,” one local man posted.
“Be wary if you have backyard aviaries, chook pens and the like. Make sure they are secured as foxes will try and break in.”
On at least one occasion, the fox has spooked and likely chased a much-loved pet cat which then went missing for 15 hours and when finally found was dirty, tired and scared but had luckily survived its ordeal unharmed.
Due to the Covid lockdown, many foxes have had to venture to areas they would usually never be seen in as their usual supplies of food scraps have dwindled with more people being at home and less people travelling to and from work and school.
With less food scraps around, it also makes foxes more likely to attack small household pets such as rabbits and cats.
Foxes were declared pests in NSW in 2014. It means they cannot be legally re-homed once captured.
Supernova the cat that went missing for 15 hours after being chased by the fox which has been spotted making its home in Sydney’s trendy inner-west (Images: Supplied)
A spokesperson attached to the NSW Department of Primary Industries confirmed with True Crime News Weekly it was the responsibility of the local councils – such as the Inner West Council or Burwood Council in this particular case – to safely remove the fox if it doesn’t leave of its own accord.
“They have rangers for this very function,” the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson from the Local Land Services office (LLS) told True Crime News Weekly that foxes were considered dangerous because of the risk they carry of transmitting disease to household pets or even humans.
“They are predators and they also carry disease,” the LLS spokesperson said.
“So even if a fox doesn’t kill a pet or human with its bite it may later succumb to disease, or it can pass that disease on.
“With it being seen inside the grounds of several schools, it could soon present to be a real danger to small children returning to school.”
Last June, a hungry fox nicknamed ‘Frankie’ made its home in the grounds of the University of NSW in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and ended up biting at least three people.
At least one of those people had mistaken the fox for a cat.
True Crime News Weekly sent questions to Inner West Council about the fox and what plans, if any, it had to remove the animal if it did not soon leave the local area.
We also contacted the council’s mayor, Rochelle Porteous, as well as its deputy mayor, Pauline Lockie, for comment for this story.
We did not receive a response.
HUMAN BEINGS ‘are a … who kills…’
Biig difference between animal forced out of its natural habitat and onto the fringes of society and socalled intelligent humans who have a choice to destroy others. Note: most humans have never rid themselves of the thirst for blood; the deep desire to kill (and we see this expressed in other forms of violence including hate speech and racism or something as seemingly simple as greed, one-upmanship and pulling others down/back).
You can’t hang a fox for not knowing you think it has no right to live. Kill kill kill: WHO needs to change? Not the fox.
“Clean up your own backyard first”.