Vixey the arctic fox has a new playmate. The male fox, named Tod (both names come from Disney’s “Fox and the Hound”), arrived at Great Bend’s Brit Spaugh Zoo at the end of last month and he’s just been moved to a public viewing area.
Members of the Zoo Society always been the first chance to see new animals, and on Monday dozens turned out to celebrate the new fox, as well as two lion cubs and two bear cubs that aren’t being displayed yet.
“As Zoo Society members, you guys get to see new animals first,” Zoo Director Scott Gregory said. In fact, Zoo Education Coordinator Amber Koch had Tod on a leash, and some visitors got to pet him.
The other animals were safety behind bars.
Animals spend their days in outdoor displays, and are moved inside at night. The lion cubs and the zoo’s older lions sat stoically in their separate cages as Zoo Society members filed past, but over in the bear den it was another story. Max, the adult bear, expressed his displeasure with the new upstarts – and the human visitors as well – vocally and by splashing water from a tub at those who got too close to his cage.
All of the new animals will remain separate from the adults, and they will be released into the outdoor exhibit at different times.
The lions each weigh about 150 lbs. and are showing some personality, Gregory said. The bears weigh about the same and were born one day after the lions last January. All of them are from the Living Treasures Wild Animal Park in western Pennsylvania.
The fox came from a breeder in Oklahoma.