Has the quick brown fox jumped a 125-mile barrier?
THEY came from Britain and rapidly colonised the Australian interior. Yet for 160 years red foxes seemed not to have found Tasmania — a Noah’s Ark of endangered animals 125 miles (200km) south of the mainland. Now several fox carcasses — hit by vehicles — have been found on the back roads of the island, mystifying the authorities, who plan to spend A$56 million (£22 million) to destroy an enemy few had seen and that many Tasmanians still believe has not reached their home in threatening numbers. At risk, according to the Tasmanian government and conservationists, are unique native species — many of which have died out on mainland Australia because of foxes. They include quolls, a carnivorous marsupial about the size of a cat, and bettongs and bandicoots, both tiny kangaroo-like creatures. The fox has colonised much of Europe, the Americas and Asia. On mainland Australia alone there are an estimated 30 million — descendants of a few pairs released into the wild in 1855 for hunters. Neve
