A man has been praised online for saving a fox cub that was struggling to swim in a river.
User stylewithseycha shared the incredible video on TikTok on Monday, where it has now been viewed over 9 million times, and has more than 1.2 million likes and thousands of comments.
In the video, the poster’s uncle named Russ is seen climbing into the canal in the UK Fully clothed, he swims toward the opposite side of the water and collects the small fox cub.
With no parents in sight, the pair took the fox cub with them to the car before taking him to a nearby wildlife sanctuary.
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The UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) says that if you do find a fox cub alone, in most cases the best thing is to leave them alone. However, sometimes it may be necessary to intervene, for example, if the cub is in immediate danger.
Cubs taken into captivity to be cared for should be handled as little as possible and it is important to note the exact location they were found so they can be returned whenever possible.
The RSPCA says: “Please don’t try to rear a cub yourself – they need expert care and foxes used to humans do not survive well in the wild.”
Delighted by the video and the man’s heroic actions, TikTok users shared their thoughts in the comments.
“The way he accepted your help so easily—poor thing must be so grateful,” wrote one viewer.
Another commenter said: “My faith in humanity is restored. Thank you.”
“That’s the type of people we need running the country,” said one comment. While another viewer wrote: “This deserves some serious credit amongst all the evil and bad in the world! True gentleman.”
In a later update video, stylewithseycha explained: “In the video, he doesn’t look good, but in the car he got a lot brighter. When taking the fox back to the car, the little guy bit him on the finger so Russ had to go and see if his tetanus jabs were up to date—they luckily all were.
“They’ve taken the little fox to a wildlife sanctuary nearby, he’s in a stable condition on antibiotics for a week and hopefully will be released very soon.”
Another commenter on the viral video said: “That’s awesome. Poor little fox, such beautiful creatures.”
One TikToker joked: “What does the fox say? Thank you.”
“Your uncle is a legend,” said another commenter: “Thank you for updating us all.”
Last week, another wildlife rescue captured hearts online after a woman adopted a pigeon that came to sit with her while she was on a night out.
Newsweek has reached out to stylewithseycha for comment.