{"id":597803,"date":"2026-05-22T10:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/597803\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:14:08","slug":"stowaway-fox-gets-clean-bill-of-health-and-a-name-basil-like-dazzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/597803\/","title":{"rendered":"Stowaway Fox Gets Clean Bill of Health and a Name: Basil (Like \u2018Dazzle\u2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a little red fox arrived in the Port of New York and New Jersey in February, it was well out of place: It had traveled 3,600 miles from England<\/a> by sea after stowing away among thousands of cars on a huge cargo ship.<\/p>\n

The fox, a male estimated to be 2 years old, was soon at the Bronx Zoo, where he appeared healthy but was to stay in quarantine until definitively deemed fit.<\/p>\n

It turned out he needed treatment for a potentially fatal parasite called French heartworm, which is common to wild foxes and domestic dogs in Europe but rare in the United States. On Friday, after about three months of treatment, officials declared him fully healthy.<\/p>\n

They also announced that the animal, initially known at the zoo as just \u201cthe red fox,\u201d had gotten a name: Basil (rhymes with \u201cdazzle,\u201d as in his homeland).<\/p>\n

Officials at the zoo, where staff members have experience rescuing wildlife that has been illegally trafficked into local ports and airports, said in March that they did not plan to name the fox. He was probably going to leave for an animal sanctuary or another permanent home post-quarantine, they said, and he would get a name there.<\/p>\n

But the quarantine period lasted \u201ca little longer\u201d than usual because of the parasite, Craig Piper, the zoo\u2019s interim director, said in an interview. As time passed, Mr. Piper said, the fox\u2019s keepers gave Basil his moniker, and \u201cit stuck with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inspiration for the name is unclear, Mr. Piper said. It may simply be a tribute to his status as a native of England, or a reference to the title character of the British sitcom \u201cFawlty Towers<\/a>\u201d or a nod to Basil Brush<\/a>, a glove puppet fox from British children\u2019s television.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case, Basil it is.<\/p>\n

The parasite that extended Basil\u2019s quarantine, known formally as Angiostrongylus vasorum, was diagnosed during a comprehensive veterinary evaluation at the zoo\u2019s Wildlife Health Center, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

Unlike the heartworm more commonly associated with domestic dogs and cats in the United States, French heartworm infects blood vessels in the lungs of wild members of the dog family and can cause severe respiratory disease if untreated, the release said.<\/p>\n

Basil received three types of deworming medicine in a month, the release said. Several rounds of diagnostic testing were done to confirm that the infection had been successfully cleared.<\/p>\n

The fox weighed 11.2 pounds when he arrived at the zoo. After living on a diet that included apples, sweet potatoes, insects and mice, he was up to nearly 14 pounds as of Friday.<\/p>\n

While being treated, Basil \u201cdeveloped a fuller and shinier coat and demonstrated strong overall health,\u201d according to the release, which added that staff members had \u201cnoted a dramatic improvement\u201d in his appearance.<\/p>\n

Zoo officials are still considering options for Basil\u2019s permanent home, and a decision could take several months, Mr. Piper said. He could remain at the zoo, which does not have a red fox on display, or he could still wind up somewhere else.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Basil remains outside public view. Mr. Piper said he \u201clooks great\u201d and is \u201cvery bright\u201d and \u201ccurious,\u201d which, he added, \u201cis not common for foxes \u2014 they can be aloof at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will almost certainly never be known how Basil found his way onto that ship. Regardless, Mr. Piper said, \u201che\u2019s had a very unique adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a little red fox arrived in the Port of New York and New Jersey in February, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[204201,36961,3873,546,204203,90,190767,204202,56,54,55,4407,36085],"class_list":["post-597803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-bronx-zoo-wildlife-conservation-park","tag-foxes","tag-new-york-city","tag-parasites","tag-rescues","tag-science","tag-ships-and-shipping","tag-stowaways","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife","tag-zoos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}