title: Effect of British hunting ban on fox numbers.
abstract: Pressure to ban the hunting of foxes with hounds in Britain has fuelled debate about its contribution to the control of fox populations. We took advantage of a nationwide one-year ban on fox-hunting during the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in 2001 to examine this issue and found that the ban had no measurable impact on fox numbers in randomly selected areas. Our results argue against suggestions that fox populations would increase markedly in the event of a permanent ban on hunting.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK. s.harris@bristol.ac.uk
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Charlotte C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Webbon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004739:England; D005243:Feces; D005589:Foxes / Q000502:physiology*; D011156:Population Density; D012098:Reproduction; D013177:Sports / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013997:Time Factors