Urban foxes have colonised UK towns since the 1930s and are now part of the urban ecosystem. Their welfare involves navigating human-wildlife conflict while accessing sufficient food and den sites in managed environments.
Urban fox welfare is affected by mange infection, road mortality and human persecution. Sarcoptic mange causes progressive hair loss, severe itching and death from secondary infection within weeks of advanced infestation. Treatment using homeopathic borax paste in food has shown limited effectiveness; prescription ivermectin through a wildlife vet produces better results. Road traffic kills approximately 100,000 foxes annually in the UK — the primary mortality cause. Urban fox culling is ineffective at reducing territory numbers (new foxes fill vacant territories within months) but causes welfare harm. Evidence-based non-lethal approaches to managing fox-human conflict produce more durable outcomes than repeated killing.