Fox Cub Trapped in Bitumen Saved in “One of the Most Horrific” Rescues Ever by Wildlife Hospital
In what rescuers are calling one of the most horrific cases in over 35 years, a young fox cub is recovering after becoming trapped in a container of bitumen and then stuck to a road surface in northeast London.
The three-month-old cub was discovered last Thursday on an industrial estate near Lea Bridge and Hackney Marshes, after workers heard frantic screeching and found the animal completely coated in thick, black tar.
South Essex Wildlife Hospital responded to the emergency and spent over 30 painstaking minutes freeing each of the cub’s limbs from the hardened bitumen road — a process that required baby oil, WD-40, and eventually cutting away clumps of matted fur.
“This was one of the most horrific cases we’ve seen in the 35+ years of wildlife rescue,” said Lawrie Brailey, operations manager at the hospital.
Workers on site had already begun trying to help the animal after searching online for advice. They started applying baby oil while waiting for professional help to arrive.
Once freed, the cub was rushed to the hospital for treatment and monitoring. The substance — bitumen, a crude oil product commonly used in road surfacing — can be toxic, and the cub is still under observation for potential poisoning and leg injuries. Despite the trauma, he’s eating, urinating, and mobile, which the team takes as hopeful signs.
“There is minor staining to the fur… but now he looks like a fox again, with a couple of patches missing,” Brailey said.
In a heartbreaking twist, the cub’s mother was seen trying to rescue her baby, attempting to “scruff him” and drag him off the tarmac. Whether the cub can be safely reunited with his mother remains uncertain, and the team says this will need to happen within a week to avoid rejection.
If that reunion isn’t possible, the cub will join others at the rescue hospital until he’s strong and healthy enough to be released back into the wild.
The cleanup alone took more than 30 bottles of baby oil, and staff admit the situation required a lot of trial and error due to the rarity and severity of the case.
Brailey added: “We see a lot of injury and death… When you go to something like that and look at that animal, you’re left wondering what you can do. I’m just glad we could help him.”