Foxes are alarmingly overpopulated

In the last several years, the number of foxes has become much larger than the one generally accepted. Normally, there should be a 3-fox maximum per 1,000 hectares. This year, however, some places registered as much as 35 foxes per 1,000 hectares, reports Info-Prim Neo. According to Moldovan Hunters and Anglers Society president Oleg Ciocoi, several years ago a fox pelt would’ve been very expensive, and hunters had incentives to hunt them. It had even reached a point where foxes where being hunted beyond the limit, and after their extermination has been banned, they numbers sky rocketed. Nowadays, a fox pelt costs between 50 and 150 lei, depending on its state. “People simply don’t see the point in hunting them”, says the hunters’ leader. Due to the high population of foxes, people get to suffer. The foxes, having overbred, don’t find enough food and start stealing farm poultry. Additionally, dogs that fight the foxes get rabies very often, and can, in turn, infect people. In order to decrease the fox population, authorities allow their hunting in unlimited quantities. The fox hunting season is the longest, spreading from August till May. Additionally, hunters receive free cartridges, and if the hunt up to 20 foxes a day, they are exempted from the annual Hunters and Anglers Society 400 lei tax, which is used for the maintenance of the hunting areas.