A fox was spotted at night near the popular Dostyk Plaza shopping center in Almaty. As Kursiv LifeStyle found out, the animal was running in close proximity to the building, and a video appeared on social media showing the fox standing fearlessly next to men, but running away when one of them tried to approach. The animal showed no aggression, which rules out the possibility of rabies, according to infohub.kz.
Users in the comments are actively speculating how a wild animal could have ended up within the city limits. One version links the fox's appearance to mass logging in the Kok-Zhailyau tract and Butakovka Gorge: according to residents, animals are forced to descend from the mountains into the city, even though it is completely unsuitable for their life.
"It'll be a real laugh if wild animals start a rabies epidemic in the city. They could bite a cat, or a dog, or a rat. Keep destroying their habitat and they'll run into the city. You're geniuses, you saw dollar signs and to hell with everything else," one comment read.
"It's like in the Yellowstone series, animals started descending into the city because construction began in the mountains. A snow leopard and a fox have already been seen, now we're waiting for a bear," Kursiv LifeStyle quoted another comment from the discussion.
Some commentators suggest the animal could have escaped from private owners or a petting zoo, since the shopping center is located relatively far from the mountains. However, Almaty residents object: the fox could have descended along the health trail along the Bolshaya Almatinka River, which is right next to Dostyk Plaza.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported that just three days before the fox appeared, tourists spotted one of the most cautious predators in the Almaty mountains — a snow leopard.