A Story About Aussies Getting Outfoxed

May 21, 2022 3:26 PM

Meet Rambo: a very crafty fox whose knack for evasion is driving Australian conservationists to wit's end while also gaining their grudging respect.(SLSydney Morning Herald)

A transplanted predator with no natural enemies, foxes are a major problem for Australian wildlife, contributing to the nation's crisis of endangered animals. As such, programs are working to create sanctuaries free of predators like foxes and cats to help build the population of endangered native fauna - but as the case of Rambo shows, that can be easier said than done.

posted by NoxAeternum (14 comments total)

I suspect large, "photograph-able" pests may be eventually be controlled. For if they can be seen on camera, then that same camera, equiped with AI and armed with a dart, can do something about these pests.
posted by Zzedd at 4:00 PM on May 21, 2022

While I realize that foxes are a nuisance predator that should never have been introduced, I can’t help but root for the under … fox … here. You gotta admire his survival skills and sheer cheekiness.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:39 PM on May 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

A single fox in a sealed enclosure, that mostly eats insects, not birds and mammals? Just admit defeat and let it live out its life eating bugs.
posted by ryanrs at 7:02 PM on May 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just woke up, read "conservationists" as "conservatives" and thought this was about the Australian election.

Thanks for sharing! A fantastic story.
posted by Zumbador at 8:57 PM on May 21, 2022

And this little detail:
“Maybe. We don’t even know for sure Rambo is a he!”
posted by Zumbador at 9:17 PM on May 21, 2022

Wouldn’t the feminine version be Rambette? Rambina? Rambi?

Im’a shut up now.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:30 PM on May 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Well, it did eat a cat, so presumably if larger prey were available it would go after them. It may have eaten all the larger ground animals in the enclosure, perhaps, and maybe doesn't have good bird hunting skills.
posted by tavella at 9:43 PM on May 21, 2022

Oh now I want a pet bilby! (I wonder if they make good pets....)
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:19 PM on May 21, 2022

I think the issue with "just one let it alone" is that the real threat is when a second fox breaks into the preserve and then you have a potential breeding pair. There are many plagues of introduced creatures in Australia and this reserve represents a last ditch effort to save the displaced locals.
posted by zenon at 8:20 AM on May 22, 2022 [2 favorites]

OK, if you really want to catch the fox, start subdividing the pen. For a 5,800 ha enclosure, you will need to construct 15 km of fencing in total to catch the fox. This will be a roughly 50% increase over the existing fence.

With so few sightings, the most difficult part will be locating the fox after the first couple subdivisions. After that, it gets a lot easier.
posted by ryanrs at 9:15 AM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

Erm, dunno about australia but in europe foxes live in dens.... that they, like, dig? Maybe they're having a hard time finding Rambina because she's at liberty to break in and out at leisure.

At least, unlike tortoises, foxes don't climb fences (SLYT).
posted by flamewise at 12:04 PM on May 22, 2022

if you really want to catch the fox, start subdividing the pen.

You'd need the help of carefully trained consultants.
posted by flabdablet at 7:24 AM on May 23, 2022 [1 favorite]

Now the fight is on to protect and preserve existing mammals critically endangered by cat and fox predation: the greater bilby, bridled nail-tail wallaby, eastern barred and long-nosed bandicoots, long-footed and Gilbert’s potoroo and brush-tailed rock wallaby, as well as birds such as the malleefowl and night parrot, orange-bellied parrot, spotted quail-thrush and Herald petrel, plus aquatic species like green turtles, western swamp tortoise and little penguin.

Australian animals always sound just a little fake...
posted by subdee at 10:35 AM on May 23, 2022 [2 favorites]

Probably just the accent. Most of them are completely sincere.
posted by flabdablet at 10:33 PM on May 23, 2022 [1 favorite]