A DEAD fox has been found in a Scottish community that has not seen them since the 1930s.
The body of the animal, a young female, was discovered in Orkney on Tuesday near Kirkwall's Balfour Hospital.
Staff at the hospital spotted the animal, which was later taken away by Orkney Islands Council and given an autopsy at a local veterinary practice.
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There has not been a native fox population in the islands since between 400 and 800 AD, with an attempt to reintroduce them in the 1930s failing.
The council confirmed that the matter had been reported to the police.
People in Orkney have historically been warned against bringing animals from the mainland due to public health risks.
Balfour Hay, one of the vets who carried out the autopsy on the fox, told the BBC that receiving the call about the animal was "fairly unusual".
He said: "Based on the kind of injuries that we did see inside the body, we're fairly certain that it would have died from a road traffic accident or some other form of trauma.
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"However, there was evidence on the post mortem that several of the fractures, particularly to the bones in its legs, certainly happened after it died.
"We don't know what would have caused those."
Hay said that he did not believe the fox was a pet, and that it had more ticks than what would be expected on a local animal.
He also addressed suspicions that the animal was brought from the mainland, saying: "There's already a bit of speculation that this animal may have been brought up from the south.
"If that was the case, we just want to emphasise the potential risks to animal and public health from bringing animals up from outside of Orkney.
"We're fortunate in Orkney that we have a water barrier to infectious diseases, so we do want to try our best to keep any infectious diseases that we don't have here out."
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact 101.
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