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Luxembourg's Nature and Forest Agency has confirmed the capture and laboratory anaylsis of a fox following the recent bite incidents in Kehlen.
On 5 November 2021, a woman was bitten by a fox in Kehlen. It turned out that this was the third incident in just a few weeks. As a result, the Nature and Forest Agency decided to remove the animal in question from the area immediately. For this purpose, the agency set up a trap in the immediate vicinity of the location of the third bite incident on 7 November.
On 10 November, the fox was captured, shot and taken to the laboratory of the Veterinary Services Administration the following day. In order to examine the animal for rabies and distemper (a disease which can also affect non-vaccinated dogs), samples were taken in the laboratory and initial analyses returned negative results. For confirmation, the samples were sent to foreign reference laboratories which confirmed the negative results. The results were communicated by the Veterinary Services Administration to the Nature and Forest Agency on 18 November. These results mean that the fox in question suffered from neither rabies nor distemper.
According to the Nature and Forest Agency, the incidents in Kehlen were almost certainly perpetrated by an individual animal. One possible explanation for the animal's unusual behaviour is that it may have been regularly fed by humans and then demanded food from people in an aggressive manner, including biting. Nevertheless, the agency warned against painting the entire fox population with the same brush.
