The fox website (www.thefoxwebsite.org) was four years old on October 25th, the same day it passed 2,000,000 page loads. The website has proved to be an invaluable source of information about foxes for members of the public, schools, universities, local authorities and the police, both in Britain and elsewhere. The red fox is the most widely distributed land mammal in the world, and most visitors to the website come from Europe, North America, Australia and Japan, all areas where the red fox is common.

The website is maintained by Prof Stephen Harris and the Mammal Research Group and, along with the Batlab and ourweboflife, is a fine example of the School’s commitment to communicating its science to the public.

Professor Stephen Harris started his long-term study on foxes in Bristol in September 1977, and 34 years later the study is still going strong, making it one of the longer-running studies mammal field studies. The BBC made its classic films 20th Century Fox and Foxwatch in Bristol (with Stephen Harris as the scientific advisor to both programmes and co-presenter of the live Foxwatch broadcasts). This long association between the University, the city of Bristol and foxes is set to continue, with new generations of students continuing the study.