SHOCKED onlookers have reported finding a number of dead foxes in the region, but police say the killings form part of a legal cull.

A disturbing picture of a fox hanging from a tree and seven dead foxes in a line were circulated by the North Wales Hunt Saboteurs.

But a subsequent police investigation has found that they were killed in “legitimate vermin control”.

A fox hanging upside down with its legs tied to a signpost was photographed at the junction for Maengwynedd, Llanrhaedhr and Cymdu in Wrexham, while another picture showed seven foxes lying dead in a field in Gronant in Flintshire. North Wales Hunt Saboteurs believe the killings to have formed part of an illegal hunt.

But North Wales Police say they have investigated both cases and believe the foxes were legally culled.

A North Wales Police spokesman said: “We have investigated, and in both incidents there is no evidence under the Hunting Act.

“We believe that all the foxes have been legally culled as part of legitimate vermin control.”

Last week, the Leader reported on the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) Cymru’s predator control campaign, which involves reducing the amount of predators in the region to save many species of North Walian wildlife.