SAN JUAN ISLAND, Wash. – Foxes on San Juan Island are being threatened by photo-tourists some are calling “foxerazzi.”
Some tour groups are offering all-inclusive travel packages to the island for several thousand dollars.
KIRO News reports groups of photographers have been gathering outside fox dens during kitting season in hopes of getting the perfect photo.
Wildlife managers say the “foxerazzi’s” photos are not the problem, but food offered as bait to the animals is threatening their welfare.
Young foxes are not learning to hunt for food from their parents and wildlife officials say that is a death sentence for them.
The burst of tourism is thought to have been sparked by a viral YouTube video in 2016 that showed a fox and an eagle battling over prey in a San Juan Island meadow.