IRVINE : Celebrity Foxes Adjust Well to Zoo

The sign by the red foxes’ exhibit at the Orange County Zoo hints at their former celebrity status.

“When people do read the plaque, I hear them say, ‘Oh yes, do you remember the freeway foxes?’ ” said Forrest de Spain, zoo curator.

Today, the family of foxes that made national news when they stopped a freeway construction project two years ago are scattered, but all are doing well in their new lives, zoo officials say.

Two female offspring live at the Orange County Zoo in Irvine Regional Park, the mother and other siblings live at the Los Angeles and Merced zoos, and the father, who was not captured, has a new mate and another litter.

It all began when a construction worker discovered the family of red foxes living next to the almost-completed, one-mile extension of the Costa Mesa Freeway. Within weeks, the six brown pups and their parents became a political hot potato.

Biologists argued that the foxes should be left alone, that leaving them in the wild was preferable to holding them in captivity. Besides, the non-native omnivores were wreaking havoc with the state’s native species, scientists said.

Animal lovers, led by state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), said leaving the foxes on the freeway was a heartless act, akin to letting children play in traffic.

Eventually, a hunt was launched and more than $25,000 was spent, according to state estimates, to capture the pups and their mother. The father and older sibling were left behind.

When Roxy and Foxy were brought to the Orange County Zoo, they were checked for disease and spayed, then eventually moved to a $3,500 exhibit built for them.

Each day they receive meat, fruits and vegetables. Their favorite snacks are avocados and grapes. Most important, they don’t have to run across traffic to get it.

The other family members are also faring well at their zoo homes.

“The animals are doing very well,” said Michael Dee, curator of animals at the Los Angeles Zoo. “I guess you can say they lived happily ever after.”