Fox dies in road accident, body removed after 24 hrs

Chandrapur: A full grown fox was killed in a road accident near Allapalli in Aheri tehsil of Gadchiroli on Sunday morning. The body continued to be crushed under passing vehicles for the next 24 hours, thanks to the apathy of the local forest staff. The carcass was removed on Monday morning after intervention by DCF, Allapalli, Hemanthkumar Meena.
Wildlife activist from Chandrapur, Sachin Wazalwar, said he came across the body lying on the Ashti-Allapalli road while he was going to Allapalli on Sunday.“The body was near the river bridge around 4km from Allapalli. It seems the fox was knocked dead by some vehicle while it was crossing the road. I approached forest depot in Allapalli and passed on the information to a forest guard,” he said.
On his return journey Wazalwar was shocked to find the body still lying at the spot. “The body was not removed till evening. It was in a battered condition,” he said. Lamenting the apathy of forest officials, he said fox is valuable for the food-chain and ecosystem of forests in Gadchiroli where wildlife is scarce.
Wazalwar contacted DCF, Allapalli, Hemanthkumar Meena on Monday morning and apprised him of the incident. Meena claimed that he directed the RFO to visit the spot and recover the body.