Safari park confirms death of hand-reared fox kit

A young fennec fox that was hand-reared for seven months has died.

Dot was one of two kits born at Longleat Safari Park in the spring and was raised by hand after keepers noticed their mother was struggling to raise them.

Dot and her brother Other had featured in the BBC's Animal Park and a special tribute will be featured in Wednesday's episode.

"The episode shows the love and care given to both Dot and Other by their keepers and ends with a montage of images announcing her death which we felt was the most fitting way to share the news with people" said Catriona Moy, Team Manager of Animal Adventure and Lakes.

"Sadly, 60% of young fennec foxes don't survive to adulthood so we always knew raising baby kits would be a challenge," she added.

"We hope people will respect the keepers who are naturally grieving the loss of this animal."

At seven months Dot was not far from reaching maturity when she was found unresponsive in her enclosure. Keepers were in the process of reintroducing the kits to their parents.

Fennec foxes are the world's smallest canid and live in the deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. They are not endangered but are threatened by hunting and the exotic pet trade.