Residents of Fântânița, Drochia, complain that in the past several months foxes have begun to roam their village freely. They enter households and steal birds. Settlement mayor Veaceslav Babuci, contacted by IPN, sees a solution in shooting the foxes, except hunting is forbidden within settlements.
According to the mayor, the foxes have found shelter in a deserted house, which people were using as a trash depository, where they sought food. They also dug a burrow in a village ravine. Moreover, they started roaming through the village, showing no fear of humans.
“I don’t have a solution at my immediate disposal. I believe the only solution is to shoot them,” says the mayor. Veaceslav Babuci sought the assistance of the Police and the Hunters’ Association, but he was told that hunting is prohibited inside settlements. “The situation is dire not only in Fântânița. Every mayor faces problems concerning foxes and stray dogs,” the mayor adds.
Contacted by IPN, Vitalie Grimalschi, head of State Ecologic Inspectorate’s Directorate for Policies in Biodiversity, stated that such cases are not the responsibility of the Inspectorate. Settlement invasion by foxes is a large-scale problem. The Government has recently approved the regulation on hunting for the 2018-2019 season, and has established that foxes can be hunted without limit. The problem is that hunting is forbidden inside settlements, according to the Law on Animals, since it poses a danger to the population. “The Academy of Sciences could provide scientific studies, presenting ways to be rid of this invasive species through other means; perhaps there are examples of international practices. Shooting is liable to prosecution,” added the representative of the State Ecologic Inspectorate.
