Demography of rural foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in relation to cull intensity inthree contrasting regions of Britain

The impact of deliberate culling of fox populations has been much debated. Although a local (< 10 km(2)) impact has been accepted, previous authors ha ve denied that culling has any impact on a larger scale because local losse s are compensated through immigration. Rather, it has been claimed that at this scale fox density is determined by resources, mediated through social behaviour and breeding suppression. We determined the impact of culling on a regional scale (>1000 km(2)), using data on culling (Heydon & Reynolds, 2 000), fox density (Heydon, Reynolds & Short, 2000) and productivity. The th ree U.K. study regions (size 1238-2322 km(2)) were in mid-Wales (A), the ea st Midlands (B) and East Anglia (C). High productivity in regions A and C w as associated with low density, high culling mortality and high overall mor tality (all relative to region B), indicating that density was suppressed b y culling. In region B (moderate) breeding suppression was associated with a higher density and lower cull than in regions A and C, implying that fox density was closer to the maximum sustainable by resources. We conclude tha t the impact of culling in different regions of Britain is variable, depend ent on the regional prevalence, methods, and history of culling. However, i t is clear that in a range of circumstances culling can substantially depre ss fox numbers, and that current fox densities reflect a history of culling . This conclusion is fundamental in considering the management of fox preda tion in farming and conservation contexts.