Authorities are appealing for information after a dead fox was discovered on Orkney – an island with no foxes.
The body of the young female animal was found next to Garden House, near the Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall on Tuesday morning.
Shocked staff members from the hospital spotted the animal as they arrived for work.
It was later taken away by staff from Orkney Islands Council and local veterinary practice Northvet.
What happened to dead Orkney fox?
A post-mortem was carried out at the practice.
This showed it had likely been hit by a vehicle and had been dead for over 24 hours.
The council has confirmed that the matter has been reported to the police.
Hospital worker Katie Walker was one of the first to find the deceased animal.
She had been parking her van at about 8.20am and saw a colleague looking at something near the junction to Garden House.
Mrs Walker said her first reaction was “surprise and confusion as to why a fox would be on the pavement in the middle of Kirkwall”.
What is vet’s verdict?
Rhona Ley, a vet and director with Northvet, confirmed: “It wasn’t freshly dead.
“There were changes there that suggest it’s been dead for a wee while, probably due to a road traffic accident, I would say.
“It had broken ribs and bleeding into its chest. This suggests it had been hit by a car but it had been dead for longer than 24 hours.”
The vet also revealed that the bushy-tailed creature had three broken legs – that were snapped after it died.
She explained: “When the legs are broken before death they get a lot of bruising but there was nothing… This suggests they were broken afterwards.”
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Council: ‘Taking dead fox to Orkney is against the law’
Orkney isn’t known to be home to any foxes.
But this isn’t the first time Northvet has carried out a post-mortem on one found in the county.
The vet said there was an incident in 2007 where a dead fox was found on the Holm Strait road.
Vet says departed animal may have been taken to Orkney
The conclusion from that incident was that the fox had died on the Scottish Mainland.
It was thought to have been brought to Orkney, and then dumped on the roadside.
Asked if this could also be the case with the fox discovered this morning, the vet said she would “tend to agree” with this theory…
Orkney Islands Council’s trading standards manager, Gary Foubister, said the matter will be reported to Police Scotland to investigate.
He said: “It is a serious offence to release non-native species, dead or alive.
“Anyone with information should get in touch with Police Scotland on 101.”
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