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Charge Laid After Two Foxes Killed In Gros Morne

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By NPT Staff - July 11th, 2022
A family of foxes is shown in a file photo from Gros Morne National Park, where a food-conditioned fox and one of its kits have been killed by vehicles.

A family of foxes is shown in a file photo from Gros Morne National Park, where a food-conditioned fox and one of its kits have been killed by vehicles/Parks Canada

A person has been charged with feeding a fox family after a fox and one of its kits were struck and killed by vehicles in Gros Morne National Park.

It’s illegal to feed wildlife in national parks.

“Access to human food kills wildlife,” Parks Canada said in a news release. “Whether the food is from roadside garbage or people giving them handouts, the result is the same. Feeding or approaching wild animals causes them to lose their natural fear of people, become dependent on an easy food source, or change their behaviour. They may frequent roadside pulloffs or places where they found human food, increasing the likelihood they will be struck by a vehicle or cause a motor vehicle collision. Wild animals that find garbage or human food will return again and again, and will teach their young to look for the same handouts.”

Parks Canada staff have seen and tried to prevent many incidents of people feeding foxes this year in Gros Morne in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Someone that wasn’t feeding or intentionally interacting with a fox was recently bitten by a fox that had been frequenting roadside viewing areas of the park. Efforts to live trap and relocate this fox were unsuccessful. A few days later, a female fox was struck and killed by a vehicle travelling on route 430, and then on July 4, one of the fox kits was also struck and killed on that same highway.

Under the Canada National Parks Act, it’s illegal to feed, entice, disturb or touch any wild animal in Canada’s national parks and national historic sites, and fines can go as high as $25,000 ($19,000 USD). Parks Canada would not say whether the person charged was male or female, where they live, or when they are slated to appear in court.

Parks Canada asks that the public give wildlife a lot of space, stay in their vehicles and pull safely off the road when viewing wildlife along roadsides. A recommended distance for animals like moose, caribou and foxes is 30 metres (100 feet). It’s 100 metres (330 feet) for animals such as bears and coyotes.

Wildlife feeding violations should be reported to Parks Canada Dispatch at 1-877-852-3100 or to Gros Morne at 1-709-458-2417.

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