Learning to live with urban foxes

SOME rational balance is needed following the recent fox attack in Hackney (Insight, 13 June).

Some politicians and sections of the media seem to be advocating a vengeful war against the urban fox population. This type of incident is so rare that some experts initially found it hard to believe, but it appears generally accepted that it was a fox attack. Wildlife experts believe a young, inexperienced fox panicked. Attempts by some to turn this into an issue of whether a fox or a baby is more important are irrelevant. As a moral species, we have to do what is best for both humans and animals.

Lethal methods of fox control were tried for decades: they did not work then and wildlife experts agree they won't now. Naturally, pest controllers are keen on a cull. Although urban foxes have become more visible, their population has been stable for decades, with foxes regulating their own breeding – and the more they are culled, the more they breed.

I recommend Living With Urban Foxes, produced by Bristol City Council and adopted by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, for authoritative information. It can be found online.

Finally, a fox might complain that humans have hunted to death hundreds of baby foxes (cubbing) every autumn until the ban – and some want to bring this back.

Barry Miles, London