Incompetence or Hiding Something?

  Sadly, I have to state that the outbreak of mange that decimate all but 6% of Briostol foxes between 1994-1995 was part of an experiment by University of Bristol.

The reason I have to come to this conclusion I have stated previously but from 1998-2025 the University refused to answer emails and letters about the work of Prof Stephen Harris's Mammal Study Groupwhich was part of Bristol Uni. In total 20+ requests for information.

In September, 2026 I made a Freedom of Information request for the data.

First the Uni did not understand a plain request so I had to define it for them. Then they wanted it defined again. Sounds like stalling. Then it claimed that it had absolutely no records or papers relating to the Mammal Group or its very widely publicised fox study -which spawned data for several books by Harris and Harris as an "expert" from Bristol Uni was publicised as giving eviodence in cases. Money spent by the group or gear such as radio collars, etc -no information.

Surely in their files the project funding had to have monies declare to HMRC? Nope.

THEN, showing that it was obviously either incompetent or stalling it asked ME when the Mammal Group was set up and when it shut down and when the Uni fox project started and ended!!

For records that were claimed to have been kept at the Uni it is odd that they are almost denying the existence of the Group and fox project.

I have waited since the beginning of October for the "internal review" to try to find information but nothing.

I think University of Bristol has a secret to hide. I believe that mange (unknown in Bristol up to 1994)was deliberately released and involved more than one fox that "left the City and returned with mange" -they had a radio collar on that fox but cannot explain where it "vanished" to or where it returned from OR how a single fox with mange spread it across the City to an entire population

Absolutely no record what-so-ever.

You judge.

[Former Mammal Study Group Data on the 1994/1995 fox mange outbreak in Bristol - a Freedom of Information request to University of Bristol - WhatDoTheyKnow]

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/former_mammal_study_group_data_o

Occurrence of Cancer in UK Red Foxes (V. vulpes)

   

Fox SH001 31 05 26 photo (c)2026 Fox Study

In Cancer Prevalence and Etiology in Wild and Captive Animals Madsen,  Arnal,  Vittecoq et al it is stated that:

 "Wildlife cancer statistics are, however, highly scattered in the scientific literature and hence challenging to access. Moreover, tumors in wildlife are most commonly detected during postmortem examination and therefore hard to confirm without histopathological examinations. However, even such analyses can be inaccurate because of high levels of autolysis (organ disintegration) (McAloose and Newton, 2009).

" In addition, individuals harboring tumors often display a decrease in body condition frequently resulting in higher levels of parasite/pathogen infections and concomitant increased levels in morbidity and mortality (Vittecoq et al., 2013) " 

The paper lists only one known red fox case: Vulpes v. pennsylvanicus  American red fox  Adenoma  Ratcliffe (1933)

To this I can add two British cases -one from the Bristol Fox Necropsy Study:

029       Dog   4.80kg  Old Adult (which means over 5yrs)  Poor/Emaciated  Severe necropathy and lymphoma (cancer)

The second is a new UK case and only occurred yesterday (Sunday 31 05 2026) but is far from clear cut:

Fox (SH001 31 05 26) was in a collapsed state and my colleague, LM, attempted to secure it to take to a vet, however, as in such cases, the fox used a burst of energy and started swimming toward an island in a pond (mini lake). The fox was being unsuccessful and so LMs daughter swan out and retrieved it where it was taken care of before going to a vet (not LMs regular one).

The vet reported that the fox died while under anaesthesia (we have questions here) but the results of the examination and X-rays was that the it had broken canine teeth, pelvic swelling and osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive type of primary bone cancer that typically affects children, teens, and young adults. It most commonly develops in the long bones near the knee or shoulder. Standard treatment combines chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumor and save the affected limb.  With wildlife and foxes in particular veterinary care is in the hit-or-miss stage and based on whether the vet decides it is too costly, not worthwhile, etc. Wildlife has no National Health Service.

Luckily LM maintains video observation of foxes in the area so was able to give a brief background report on this fox:

"I've watched the whole video of her at normal speed on Friday night. She was moving normally, but she sat down for 2 mins which she hadn't done before , her ears were slightly not upright .  She didn't come Saturday night, I think she got as far as my side of the pond . Where I found her Sunday am at 0630.

"So the onset was acute not degenerative.  She has no injuries or bite marks.  Vixen 4.52 kg and full teats -as she thawed out the teats were squeezed and milk emerged

"She will be going for toxicology and Histopathy."

 Histopathology is the microscopic examination of tissue to study the manifestations of disease. It is the gold standard for diagnosing cancers, inflammatory conditions, and infectious diseases. By analyzing cellular structure, pathologists determine the exact nature of an abnormality, helping clinicians decide on the best treatment.)

LMs own vet took a look at the x-rays etc:

 

       X-ray Fox SH001 31 05 26 photo (c)2026 Fox Study

"My vet just left ... he's very unhappy. Doesn't agree with the RSPCA vets reading of the X-rays . He thinks my fox was healthy and typical of a little tough old female mother fox surviving in this crappy area . He thinks they are old healed fractures . She's a good weight for a lactating female . He is happy to refer her for detailed autopsy and toxicology. Thinks the vet's assessment was arrogant and lazy

"He also wouldn't have put her to sleep ( notwithstanding her passing away potentially from overdose as they weighed her in a wet towel )"

Despite a few attempts the RSPCA never came up with any details as per dosages used -hence the questions we have over  the possibility of overdosing. We had one fox in Bristol that was with a vet but died and as this was odd we arranged to pick up the body the next morning but on arriving were told that the fox had been collected without notice "Very early this morning and sent for incineration in Devon".  The fox was labelled correctly but when we got details of meds given we found that it was given a far too high dose of anaesthetic and that likely caused death and would have shown up in post mortem testing. Two independent vets confirmed overdosing.

We therefore have two vets and two differing opinions and a necropsy really should have been carried out  All we know from the PM carried out is that one vet stated fox had bone cancer.  2nd vet disagreed?  No PM examination was carried out re cancer but ultimate cause of death was due to "industrial or chemical pollutants" not found on land owner's land. To be noted a kestrel and two buzzards were the voctimes of rat poison along with other species in a 500 metre radius strongly suggesting that deliberate actions are going on by "persons unknown".

The Fox Project published a video that was forwarded to me of a fox trapped and with cancer and euthanised. The following image comes from the video posted.

 

Above the mass on the fox's right side can be clearly seen and affected its ability to use the leg correctly.

 

Above: from the rear the mass can be quite clearly seen.

I asked The Fox Project if they had any veterinary report, X-rays or pre-euthanasia images of the fox. I also asked whether, since cancer in foxes is very rare, a post mortem had been carried out or planned.   I got a brief response that they do not keep clinical records at the rescue(?) but I was given their main email to request such information. Then, today (15 09 2026) I received the x-ray and photo of the fox along with lump and a few answers (I have removed the name of the senior veterinary nurse for privacy reasons:

"Hi Terry,

Thank you for your email. Trev forwarded it onto me as I was the one who triaged her.

My vet wasn’t on site but after looking at the X-ray, she suspected it may have been a soft tissue sarcoma.

We have not completed any further testing as being a charity, we only tend to send off samples if it will change the outcome of a patient in our care.

I have attached the xray and a picture showing the extent of the growth to this email.

Hope this helps.

Best Wishes,"

 

First image shows far more clearly the size of the lump.

 

And next the x-ray. I actuially said "wow" out loud but Sarah Mills wrote "Wow. Wow. Wow." The poor fox must have been in some pain and I am glad that for once somebody bothered reporting it.

Soft-tissue sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the body's soft tissues, including muscles, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons, and connective tissues.

Soft-tissue sarcomas are cancers that originate in the soft tissues of the body, which connect, support, and surround other structures. They can occur anywhere in the body, but most commonly affect the arms, legs, and abdomen.

99% of UK fox rescues/wildlife hospitals tell me that they do not submit foxes for PMs so it is very possible -very likely in fact- that we miss a great deal that might push our knowledge on fox diseases and illnesses and treatments forward.

Have We Hit An Urban Wildlife Crisis Point?

 

After five decades of monitoring wildlife in Bristol, primary foxes and badgers, I have to say that I am very concerned.

In 1994/1995 the mage outbreak that hit Bristol's urban foxes devastated up the 94% of the population. That mange outbreak may well have been created but that is a question for another time.  The fox population eventually started recovering.

There is absolutely no doubt that since the 1990s drivers have gotten worse, speeding in city streets and narrow lanes is so common that few people even bother showing concern. Night time speeding is a problem everywhere but it seems almost normal across the City of Bristol. As a result more and more wildlife is dying: struck by cars and left for dead. When I showed the Fox and Badgers Death Register at the recent Wild Summit the comments were: "You hear about it but seeing the actual figures is staggering" and "Oh, that's awful".

Yet Bristol City Council refuses to even put up wildlife crossing signs and threaten those that do with legal action.

Added to this is the fact that there are very sick individuals who go out at night setting snares (two fox victims and an otter recorded so far).  Equally sick individuals go out out in all weather every night to shoot and kill wildlife -this shooting 'sport' is decimating not just fox populations (cubs and adults are killed with no interest whether a vixen killed will lead to orphaned cubs or even if the vixen is pregnant. All done with impunity even though the wildlife (and in some cases pets) are causing no problem.

We know that there are still local "badgermen" or shooters who will disp[ose of badgers "on the quiet" for farmers and others. Most badgers are dumped at the roadside and people ignore them as "road kill".

This all adds up so that, whatever you may hear from the countryside groups and pro hunt people (the latter every cub season spamming social media with tales of foxes killing pet ginger and white, black and white or elderly "much loved" cats) foxes are not -not- increasing in numbers. We have wildlife photographers from Wales visiting English towns because Welsh foxes are "non existent" thanks to decades of shooting, snaring and poisoning. 

Bristol's badger population may all be urbanbut it has to be remembered that what are now suburbs of the City were once small villages with their local badger setts and that means badgers have survived in these locations for more than a century. The threat to badgers does not just come from poisons and cars but the local authority. Aware and repeatedly informed of established badger sett territory Bristol City Council (a Green council) attempt to sell the land to developers when there is more than enough Brown Site areas to handle new housing.

Health wise we know more now than we did in 2020 as to what illnesses are affecting foxes and killing them (a small percentage compared to cars etc) but when it comes to badgers a block was placed on any post mortems being carried out under pretence of Health and Safety and risk from Bovine TB -all while official PMs WERE being carried out on badgers.

The fact is that I would love to believe that foxes and badgers were not being seen on roads and reported because none were being killed. However, looking at the yearly total for each species in the Death Register as well as hearing reports from people who are no longer seeing their badgers and foxes I suspect that a crisis point has been reached. 

The British Trust for Ornithology did a mammal survey and concluded that foxes might need Red Listing (protection as a species under threat) and their figures along with those of others invbolved in wildlife work very strongly suggest that England has lost over 60% of its fox population. I believe that it is higher and the percentage growing by the day.

We are losing the hedgehog as well as up to 30 other species and with an estimated 300,000 badgers killed during the cull (remember that is just from the cull not cars or other illegal killings) I estimate the UK badger popu;lation has gone beyond a crisis point. An the Welsh Parliament want to wipe out their badgers now.

It is mind numbing that politicians just shrug at these facts while counting "donations" from farmers groups and lobbyists.  Concern for wildlife and the environment that were so hip, cool and trendy and a MUST promote in interviews in the 1990s to early 2000s is now "People need homes" and "We need to develop as a country" and 95% of the population shrug and sit in front of the TV not caring.

The 1860s, thanks to humans and hunting, etc. created a mass extinction of UK wildlife from foxes, deer, wild cats, hares and many other species. The answer was to import more of them from Europe to "continue the sport" and this time round "Fewer wildlife better for more development and building!"

Publishers: "We want sensationalism and dogma NOT Facts!"

 

I was asked why I stopped trying to find a more traditional publisher to handle the prose books since they would have all the extra marketing skills etc to sell titles?  

It isn't so much that I stopped looking it is the fact that publishers are simply not interested and have moved away from reading and publishing and gone more for publishing by committee -with members and their own prejudices and biases. 

This is what I got from one publisher regarding The Red Papers last year:

"Dear Terry,

"Thank you very much for your message and for sharing the background to your extensive work in wildlife study and conservation, as well as the details of your two publications.

"We appreciate your dedication and the long-term fieldwork and research that support these titles. To help us better understand the scope and potential fit of your work with our editorial line, we would kindly ask you to complete the attached proposal form. This document will allow us to gather key information about the content, intended audience, and objectives of the books. It also outlines how to send further material should the proposal move forward.

"Once we have the completed form and any additional documentation you wish to share, our editorial board will carefully review the proposal. If we feel there may be a possible fit, we will be in touch to discuss next steps.

Thank you again for considering Lynx Nature Books. "

Now, considering that the company had as best a synopsis as I could give of the work which covers decxades of study, research and field work as well as gathering very rare images how else can you make  the work of interest to a publisher?

Controversial and against dogma -fully referenced from official publications and works that back up the statements and not "Well I heard" as seems more common these days. We now KNOW what the original British Isles wild cat looked like as well as the fact that we know when Scottish zoologists declared (in 1897) that the Highland wild cat had become extinct. It can now be proven  (not that it ever needed to be) that there were indeed three variations in Old British foxes.

Original: since 1900 dogma set it that meant that generrations have been misled by people who like to call themselves experts but who preach dogma. It has taken decades of archive research as well as investigation to not just prove what is stated in the books as facts but even more to get physical evidence in the form of taxidermy specimens to prove the case.

The Red Paper: Canids (2010) was called by the late Sir David Bellamy "explosive for British natural history" -and that version of the book was "sparse" com,pared to the 2022 version.

Perhaps publishers want to save themselves embarrassment from decades of inaccurate books they have published?

And, no, I never heard back from Lynx Nature Books.  I did hear from another publisher that my manuscript had gone through the first committee to be looked at, then that the second committee had approved "the book being listed" to be looked at. A year on and nothing. 

Three years ago I was informed by one publisher that with modern societal changes they needed to look at books and consider gendere diversity and ethnic diversity and what my book could contribuite to that. I was writing about researchy on wild canids and felids and just what the hell anything else had to do with that I have no idea.

Unfortunately, I am not included in the long list of virtue signalling tick boxes.

The Red Papers were accepted three times by a publishing editor only, a month or so later, the same editor telling me that "At the moment the book does not fit into our upcoming schedule".  I later learnt that one publisher was very unhappy with one of the editors as they had been publishing the modern, false British natural history for decades.

I have a big collection of books on or referring to foxes in the UK. Each and every one of the authors has just done what we would call today "copied and pasted" from others. An incorrect fact published in 1950 is copied (almost verbatim) throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and ad infinitum.  Lying about factual history is never good.

Then we come to the "World mystery" books. Heavily researched and referenced with some -truthfully- very rare or thought lost photographs and images (we know they are lost images because author after auther states this...they just never went to the source material). The photographic image of the City of Brtistol that appeared in the sky over Alaska. Gone forever.. well, no. I found it. 

Many "mystery creatures" (cryptids) took years to dig down to the actual facts in the sources to sometimes surprisingly identify and only through archive research did I find a newspaper report of what might have been the first gorilla from Africa in the early 1800s.

The truth may well not be "sexy" or "hip" but for each animal identified or each mystery looked at and solved there are those that are not. You follow the facts and the reference sources to the truth -or the mystery.

Sadly, unless you scream "cover up" or push sensationalist  but provable false claims publishers are not interested. Back in the 1980s -yes, the 1980s- one publisher "loved" my manuscript but, in writing, asked whether I could not just add in claims of government cover ups, threats and so on to "spice it up"?  I responded that I could only write about provable facts and my own experiences and would not lie to spice things up. My book suddenly became very uninteresting!

I am an archivist, researcher and historian  so what do I do -just gather all the material in files andf let it gather dust until I am no more and it all gets burnt or thrown into a skip and lost forever?  No, I do what most stupid people like me do: self publish in the belief that people would sooner have fact that sensationalist lies. 

There are a lot of us stupid people around.

It's A Fox...They Say

  I have mentioned the fact that the Study has a huge photo data base and that includes of taxidermy since we are not funded we cannot afford to buy specimens that are of extreme interest.  If you read The Red Paper: Canids (very few have) you would have seen the masks (mounted heads of foxes) of supposed "foxes" released and killed by hunts that were anything other than foxes. Jackals, coyotes, wolves et al were all kept and released to hunt -newspapers of the 19th Century feature many news reports and features on jackal hunts.

Some taxidermies we traced but new owners refused to cooperate in a study. However, it was quite obvious that certain 'fox' masks were either mistakenly labelled by hunts which is not likely, or they were just called this by antique dealers -another group that constantly refuses to cooperate in any way. Many of the plaques/shields do NOT say "fox" but just give the duration of the hunt (the important part to them) and start-end locations.

I have noted before that experts in wolves and coyotes clearly identified masks as such but when they asked where the masks originated from and "England" was given most started spluttering and trying to back-track. Why? Who knows.

Take this one: "Vale of Clifttwr Hunt June 1963 "

The Vale of Clettwr (also spelled Cletwr) is a rural geographic area located in Mid Wales primarily within the county of Ceredigion.  It stretches across a lush, hilly region between the towns of Lampeter, Llandysul, and Tregaron, roughly following the path of the Afon Clettwr river.

Chunkiest 'fox' I have seen. What do you think?

(c)2026 British Fox and Wild Canid Study

The Old and The New Fox: Comparisons

 New Fox refers to the thousands of foxes imported into England from Europe each year from (at lest) the late 16th century on. Even though they,too, faced extinction events from hunting. The descendants are the "native fox" we see today.

Points to note:

1 The back of the ears are black

2  The muzzle is longer and pointed and has a clear black "tear stain"

3  The legs end in black "socks"

4  The underside is white but grey is also common these days -as are grey coats which indicate melanism.

5  The tail can end in a white or black tip and very light/white underside as well as dark grey can be found.

6  The coat varies from "cherry red", orange, a brownish and a darker "salt and pepper" colour (indicating melanism). White and black foxes are also noted showing a mix of descendents of imported foxes from around Europe.

7 When it comes to height I have recorded foxes standing at 13-14 inches (33.2 to 35.56 cms). Domestic cats have been measured at the same size and foxes, like pet cats, can very in size from small 11 inches (27.94 cms) or 9 inches (22.86).

Old Fox refers to the true fox of the British isles (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) that were stranded here after the sinking of Doggerland (estimates 8-12000 years ago). Pictorial evidence from history indicates that this type was also in Western Europe which makes logical sense.  There were three variations (not different species as argued back and forth in the 19th century):

The Mountain/Greyhound fox was the largest and seems to have filled the niche that coyotes in the United States and jackals elsewhere fill. 

The Hill or Mastiff fox which was of "muscular, robust" build but not quite as tall as the previous mentioned fox. It lived on hills and valleys.

The Common or Cur fox was the smallest and lived around/near human habitation where food would have been far more plentiful for them.

Whether these were the species Vulpes we do not know as that would require DNA work which as volunteers we cannot afford.

1  back of ears brown

2  No black "tear stain" but slight brownish colouring

3  Underside is dark and not white or grey

4  "socks" are brown in colour when found

5   coat is brown. We do know from taxidermy examples that Old type foxes could be found with white-yellowish white fur but there are no references to melanism. This fox was killed at a time of spring molting and there are some indications in text sources that mountain/greyhound foxes could look bulky and have much whiter fur during winter. Normally, as found by my colleague LM, the Old fox had a brindle look to its fur.

6  Tail was a uniform brown and occasionally white tips were reported but in other cases no tip colour.

7 The jaw seems shorter and quite distinctive -there is also something about the setting of the eyes and face shape that is noticeable.

Re Height: These mountain/greyhound foxes were large and this is always noted in old accounts.  It was stated by Colquhoun that this was a perfect example of a mountain fox. Others agree on this which shows why these were hunted  as they would also put up a fight at the end. An adult coyote taxidermy was placed in front of this fox but the coyote had to be raised up slightly for the photograph. The fox was still a head taller than the coyote!

New and Old Foxes side-by-side comparison

As Colquhoun had been killing foxes all of his life this one he chased and shot between 1834-1836 (the full account is given in The Red Paper 2022 Canids) was what he considered to be a perfect example of a mountain fox and others agreed on that matter. Here we see rather patchy fur but this is because the fox was killed during spring molt -Colquhoun notes removing his jacket as it was warm so the lighter colour could be a winter coat or there may have been variations, although it could just be bad recording by 'sportsmen'. Take for instance this 19th century fox killed in Chechia which resembles the Colquhoun fox and shows that it was an Old Western European fox surviving longer than they did in the UK. 

We have gathered enough documentary evidence as well as taxidermy examples, or photographs of taxidermy examples along with historical images to show that the Old foxes did exist but were just ignored as dogma was taught and passed along and we can pinpoint that dogma as having started around - / + 1900.   

We need to learn the lessons from the past and look at collections in the UK (museums say they have nothing pre 1900) and Europe so that we can document this lost species and also look at whether the Old fox had three distinct types in Western Europe or whether those were unique to the British Isles.

Above all else: we need DNA work.

(c)2025 Terry Hooper

Sadly, in the UK, No one Has Learnt

 Apart from a while living in Germany I was born and raised in Bristol. From an early age I had an interest in wildlife from the smallest insect to the largest mammal. I think it amused my gran when I used to pick up worms from her garden in St Werburgh's and just hold and examine them.

St Werburgh's was great as we lived in Sevier Street with the brook and Mina Road Park to our rear. The odd owl landing on the window sill at night was "fun" (huge glowing eyes outside the window); I interacted with a pretty smart jackdaw and even observed a large caterpillar that after all of these years (I was about 10 years old at the time) I have never been able to identify what species it was.

In 1975 whilst walking to work down Pennywell Road I saw by first fox out in the daylight (it was around 0630) -not far behind it was a pursuer: a chunky black and white tom cat that looked determined to teach "that damned dog" a lesson for coming into its area. A year later I set up the British Fox Study here in Bristol. I also looked into wild cats and badgers. In 1977 I was rather accidentally drawn into exotic animals and spent 1977-2018 acting as a UK police forces wildlife consultant (and later as part of the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime -PAWS).

Yes, I did get interviewed in newspapers 9national and regional) and even on local, national and non UK (Australia and Forces Radio Europe) on my work.

So I started out all those decades ago and tried as best I could to avoid publiciity while I also helped people build wildlife pounds, remove the odd adder that had wandered into their garden and tried to persuade local authorities (Conservative, Labour and currently the very non Greens) to help do more for the environment and help conserve our rapidly dwindling wildlife.

I had the first ever post mortem study into fox deaths set up in Bristol which yielded some interesting results. Outside the UK I am known for my research on canids and felids -particularly extinct ones and I managed to identify which fox inhabited Hong Kong before hunting drove it extinct -something naturalists there had been unable to do.

In 2000 I wrote a paper that clearly stated there WAS a genuine Corsican wild cat (aka "fox-cat") -science caught up with me about five years ago!

I have researched and discovered what the original British fox looked like as well as the wild cat -al archived and published for posterity.

British academia's response? "You aren't with a university are you?" which is their way of saying "you ain't part of the club". Far more interest outside the UK.

The question I keep getting asked by people who wonder WHY I still do all of this with no financial reward or official recognition (I liked it when someone pointed out that a lady who was a public toilet attendant for 30 years got an MBE for her work but "You just get tones of ------ thrown at you!" -it stops any ego developing)

From the 1970s when things were bleak -the Energy Crisis and power cuts- to the 1980s when people seemed to be trying to at least do something to save the environment and wildlife we have seen, since the late 1990s, a downward spiral of not many caring about all of the UK species going extinct, all the trees being cut down and Green Spaces grabbed for selling off.

Local authorities and national governments all have the same mantra: "**** wildlife and the environment -there is money to be made!"

When I am gone very few are going to even know about the work I have done. The UK as a whole doers not care what is going on outside of TV or on the internet. Otters, badgers, foxes and deer are all piling up on the roadside (former wildlife track) but build under or over passes for wildlife to cross? No. That would cost money -it's just wildlife after all.