(CS) The wild animal shelter in Dudelange is preparing to release one its most well-known protegees – fox and Rock-A-Field mascot Rafi – into the wild.

The fox was brought to the animal shelter in March, after walkers had found the little cub in the forest, where it is assumed that the animal's parents dropped it.

Rafi was the first fox to be brought to the shelter this year, which has since taken in a number of other foxes to nurse them back to health before releasing them into the wild. However, Rafi is lagging behind his foxy friends.

While Archie, Rokko and Akira, who were at the shelter together with Rafi, were released earlier this week, Rafi will have to wait a little longer after breaking his leg.

“We have no idea how this happened,” said Carole François of the Dudelange shelter, adding, however, that Rafi is known to be a little bit clumsy. The hind leg, broken in two places, had to be tied close to the body and while he can now put weight on it again, Rafi will have to wait until the injury is completely healed before embarking on his journey into the forest.

He still has company, however, with Roxette, who was hit by a car and then brought to the shelter, also still on the road to recovery.

"Sad to say goodbye"

August is an ideal time of year to release the young foxes, François explained, with windfall and berries aplenty and mice, worms and snails galore for the animals to hunt and eat. It gives the foxes time to mark their territory and get accustomed to life in the wild before the hunting season starts in mid-October.

While the foxes are usually released in groups, they tend to quickly separate, especially once they start looking for a mate.

Despite his star status at the animal shelter, François is proud that Rafi remains shy of humans. At an open day earlier this year, which drew a record crowd to see the RAF mascot, Rafi remained out of sight.

When exactly Rafi will be released is not yet clear, but it will be with a heavy heart that François and her colleagues at the shelter will see him go. “It's always sad to say goodbye to the foxes, but that's what we take care of them for.”

Reporting by Jan Söfjer