Tel Aviv municipality to scatter rabies vaccination bait for foxes, jackals

Municipal workers will in the coming days begin distributing the bait, which provides immunity to the animals upon swallowing.

By SHARON UDASIN
The vaccinations for foxes (photo credit: Tel Aviv Municipality)
The vaccinations for foxes
(photo credit: Tel Aviv Municipality)
In order to perform mass vaccinations against rabies for the area’s fox and jackal populations, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality will be scattering bait containing edible vaccines against the disease.
Municipal workers will in the coming days begin distributing the bait, which provides immunity to the animals upon swallowing, in brown cartons the size of matchboxes, the city said. The hope is that the vaccines reach a large portion of the dozens of foxes and jackals who live in the open areas surrounding the city.
The vaccination bait is being distributed for the sixth year in a row and will be found in several specific Tel Aviv locations.
In Ganei Yehoshua, also known as the Yarkon Park, Rosh Tzipor, Sheva Tachanot and Eser Tachnot sites will all receive bait boxes, the municipality said.
Many open spaces will also contain the vaccines. East of Habarzel Street, the Neve Sharett neighborhood, the Mishtala neighborhood, north of Tel Baruch through Road 5, north of Azorei Hen, Kiryat HaHinuch, along the stretch of coast toward Herzliya, Tel Baruch beach, Hatzuk beach, Sde Dov and Menachem Begin Park from Holon Junction through the Ayalon Park.
The Tel Aviv municipality, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA ) and the Agriculture Ministry’s Veterinary Services have all warned that residents should not touch the bait boxes if they come across them.
Although the bait does not present any danger, anyone who does mistakenly touch the bait should wash his or her hands with soap and call the INPA immediately, the authority stressed.
The bait boxes will be scattered around open areas all over Israel from now through April, the INPA said.
In addition to calling upon residents to avoid the boxes, the Tel Aviv municipal veterinarian also asked that they refrain from feeding the wildlife as doing so is prohibited, and may harm the animals’ health.
Foxes and jackals tend to remain in open areas and are primarily active between sunset and a half-hour before sunrise, and avoid approaching humans or domestic animals, the municipality said.
However, if residents do encounter live or dead foxes and jackals, they should report their findings to the 106 call center, the city said.