Watch: Urban foxes are bolder than rural cousins but not smarter

Urban foxes are bolder and more inquisitive than their rural peers, but they are no more intelligent, a study has found.

The carnivorous animal is famed for prowling around city streets and feasting on leftovers and scraps in the gutter and in the bins, but experts are now challenging that view.

Scientists analysed more than 100 foxes caught on camera across the UK, from Edinburgh to London and everywhere in between, over more than two years.

They found that less than a third of the foxes were bold enough to approach the various contraptions, designed to mimic food left in a bin, and just 12 solved the puzzles to get the snack.

There was no link between rural or urban-dwelling foxes and their success at getting to the food, data show, while there was a slight edge of city foxes approaching the food.

“The puzzles are basically glorified pieces of trash from the fox’s perspective, but from our perspective they are proper scientific equipment,” study lead author, Dr Blake Morton, an animal behaviour expert from the University of Hull, told The Telegraph.

“We found that urban foxes were more likely to physically touch and interact with the puzzles but after a couple of seconds of trying to get into it, they quit and left.

“I don’t think that it’s consistent with this idea of urban foxes being bin raiders. They do do it, but they don’t do it as often as people think they do.”

Foxes, he added, play a key role in modern ecosystems and are beloved in the UK but do suffer from a reputation as rubbish-eating nuisances.

“Urbanisation is an important conservation question at the moment,” Dr Morton said.

“Foxes are a great study animal because they’re famously urban and globally widespread - they are probably the most widespread carnivore on the planet.”

“We propel this myth ourselves of foxes being bin raiders and I think, like any myth, there’s a hint of truth to it, but also a lot of sensationalisation going on.”

He added that although the data does not support a common theory that urbanisation is increasing innovation and intelligence in various animals, it remains true that foxes will always look for easy food when available.

Every time the scientists left food unattended with no elaborate puzzle needing to be solved, the foxes ate it, they said.

“Foxes are renowned for thriving in cities, and our study suggests that bolder behaviour may help urban foxes adapt to such settings,” Dr Morton said.

“However, just because a fox lives in a city doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll engage in problem solving. Foxes are really nuanced.

“There might be a tendency for bolder and smarter foxes to come from cities but there’s still quite a lot of variation going on there.”

The study is published in the journal Animal Behaviour.