'They need to be respected': Parks Canada reminds visitors not to feed animals

Reports of an aggressive fox in the Robinson's Island area of P.E.I. National Park prompted staff to put up signsto warn people about the animal, and remind visitors not to feed the animals.

Paul Giroux, an ecologist with Parks Canada, said staff got word of a fox acting strangely late last week and have been monitoring the animal ever since.

The parkhad signs up on Wednesday warning visitors of the fox, and telling them it is against the rules to feed animals in the park.

"It's nothing new for people to see foxes around but this one was just acting a little bit strange," said Giroux.

"We thought we'd just be proactive and avoid any kind of aggressive behaviour that could be escalating."

'They're unpredictable'

Giroux said there isn't a danger to visitors, but they shouldn't be feeding any animals while at the park.

"People aren't really doing foxes any favours by giving them a free hand out in this case," he said.

"It's a danger for the fox because they could get hit by cars, and they could suffer mortalities themselves."

Girouxsaid that there haven't been anybitesto date, which issomething staff are always working to avoid.

But he added that the foxes are"wild animals and they're unpredictable."

'Keep their distance'

Giroux said he hopes the signs and patrolling enforcement officers and staff will get visitors to think twice before feeding any animals.

"The main thing for us is that it's a behaviour problem for people, not so much foxes," he said.

"If they can just admire wildlife from afar, take photographs but not interact.They're wild animals, they need to be respected and people need to keep their distance."

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