By Kate Willing, Animal and Plant Control Consultant, Rural Solutions SA

More foxes are being seen in Adelaide at the moment as sub-adults begin to disperse from natal areas in late Summer looking for new territories.

Adelaide has a dearth of habitats for urban wildlife, and the beautiful reserves and wetlands we are beginning to value, rehabilitate, and establish create corridors which sustain their populations and our own. 

Unfortunately, these areas also provide excellent habitats for foxes who relish areas where there is a variety of resources and intersecting habitat features:  the coastline and dune system, Patawalonga Basin, golf courses, parks, wetlands, River Torrens and storm-water drainage systems all provide quiet places for foxes to feed, shelter and breed. 

The increasing fox presence in urban and peri-urban Adelaide poses a serious threat to native fauna and is an expensive nuisance to land managers.  The pests dig under infrastructure, chew on irrigation equipment, spread weeds, and have the potential to interfere with cars. 

High densities of foxes in urban areas live in close proximity to domestic animals and humans, putting them at risk to a range of diseases, parasites, worms, ticks and fleas.   In fact, there are so many resources available that there are higher recorded fox densities in urban and peri-urban areas than in rural areas.

The normal rural methods of fox control, such as shooting and poisoning, are not appropriate in urban areas, which require an integrated approach over a broad area. 

Availability and location of food are major factors influencing fox movement, abundance and behaviour. 

Common contents of a fox diet in Adelaide revealed by scat analysis:

Top - vegetative matter (commonly grass).
Bottom Left – small mammal bones.
Centre & Bottom Right – insect remains (brown cup worm, Agrotis munda).

Rural Solutions SA has provided successful solutions utilising vast team technical knowledge of integrated pest management, field expertise, and advanced GIS  and GPS :

• PESTAT - trialling new fox bait delivery techniques;
• Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity - devising a group approach to fox baiting in the upper south east, and also coordinating Urban Forums for metropolitan pest management and information sharing;
• Adelaide Airport Ltd - fox management plan and diet study; and
• Adelaide Shores - vertebrate pest activity assessment.