Wildlife reserve offers reward for return of stolen foxes

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A British wildlife reserve is offering a $3,880 reward for the return of two tame foxes believed to have been stolen in a break-in.

The Lower Moss Wood Educational Nature Reserve said in a Facebook post it is offering a $3,880 reward for the return of Alice and Rift, two foxes found to be missing after a break-in at the facility late Friday night.

"No words can express how I feel, and all the volunteers who care for these animals will also be devastated," nature reserve manager Ray Jackson told the Knutsford Guardian.

"The foxes' pens were deliberately broken into after the locks were smashed," he said. "We can only hope they escaped and will return, but that I doubt."

There has been an outpouring of support from the public in the days since the break-in, with a crowdfunding campaign to beef up security at the facility raising thousands of dollars and a local coming stepping in to install CCTV cameras free of charge.

"The CCTV offer is very generous, and the amount raised online is amazing," Jackson said. "However it will not bring the foxes back, and we will use the donations to rebuild some of the pens and make them more secure."