Anti-fox hunting campaigner says ‘if you stick up for foxes, you get your comeuppance’

The wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham has said that a dead fox has been left outside his house.

The prominent campaigner against fox hunting and animal cruelty posted a video on Twitter, saying he had found the animal in the yard outside his Hampshire home on Monday.

The video showed the animal in his driveway with a large dark mark around its body, which Packham said was a snare injury.

Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) It appears that if you oppose the cruelty and illegality of fox hunting and those who club them to death you don’t just get social media abuse . The body of a fox has been dumped at my house . . . @LeagueACS @RSPCA_official The police have been informed pic.twitter.com/z1G8GqFvu3

Packham called the animal beautiful and said: “It seems that if you stick up for foxes, you get your comeuppance from people who still think it’s a good idea to kill them.”

In the message he also tagged the RSPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports, and said he would be contacting the police.

The clip also referenced a prominent QC’s Boxing Day tweet saying he had killed a fox with a baseball bat. Jolyon Maugham claimed the animal had “got caught up in the protective netting around the chickens” and he “wasn’t sure what else to do”.

Packham tweeted about the incident at the time, saying: “Managing wildlife doesn’t necessitate cruelly killing it.”

The RSPCA said in a statement: “We are concerned and saddened that a dead fox, with injuries likely to be caused by a snare trap, was left at Chris Packham’s home.

“We strongly oppose traps which can cause terrible suffering to animals. We understand this incident has been reported to the police and are ready to assist them if needed.”

Hampshire police said they could not find any record of the incident.

It is not the first time the 58-year-old presenter has been targeted as a result of his environmentalism. He has had death threats, and dead crows left hanging outside his home. He has previously said the aggression he has experienced fuels him.

He said: “It never makes me angry, depressed, worried, it makes me think they’re doing these things because they’re being backed into a corner and lashing out. I’m interested in getting results, I will plough on regardless.”