Wildlife center staff wear fox costumes to care for fox kits

• Staff at a wildlife center in Virginia had to dress up as foxes while caring for orphaned kits.
• The center said it did not want the kit to be “imprinted or habituated to humans.”
• Staff at the center strive to “minimize human noise” when operating the kits.

Staff at a wildlife center in Richmond, Virginia, had to make unconventional arrangements to care for an orphaned fox cub.

On Tuesday morning, the Richmond Wildlife Center posted a Facebook video showing staff wearing furry fox masks feeding the kits. In the video, the kit is placed on top of a stuffed fox and staff are feeding it with a syringe.

“It is important that orphans raised in captivity avoid human imprinting and habituation,” the center said in a Facebook post, adding that staff had to dress as foxes. I explained the reason.

“To prevent that, we minimize human noise, create visual barriers, reduce handling, reduce multiple transfers between different facilities, and wear species-appropriate masks. ” the post continued.

Melissa Stanley, a staff member featured in the video, told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that the kits were brought to the center on Feb. 29.

Stanley, who is also the center’s executive director, said the man discovered the kit while walking his dog. When she was admitted to the hospital, her newborn kit still had the umbilical stump attached.

“The goal is to reintroduce the animals into the wild, not only to give them a chance at survival, but also to recognize their species and breed them to maintain wildlife populations,” Stanley said. he said, adding that the center’s staff will take turns to: Feed the kit while wearing the fox mask.

The wildlife center told The Associated Press that the fox kit will soon be transferred to the Animal Education and Rescue Organization and eventually released back into the wild.

This isn’t the first time wildlife staff have had to imitate the animals they work with.

Biologists in Wisconsin wear crane costumes to avoid leaving any traces of the chicks in their care.

And in China, to facilitate the transition of bears into the wild, staff at panda sanctuaries have had to wear panda costumes covered in panda urine and feces when interacting with pandas.