A fox cub has been rescued after it fell into a container of bitumen and stuck to the tarmac.
Officials discovered the animal covered in the sticky black substance on an industrial estate.
The three-month-old cub was crying out for help when rescuers arrived – with its mother hovering in distress nearby.
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But after the cub was freed from the container, it then got stuck to the road.
Helpers and a vet spent 30 minutes carefully removing each limb from the road before the fox could be taken away, as reported by Need To Know.
A spokesperson for South Essex Wildlife Hospital said it was one of “the most horrific cases” they’d seen in over 35 years of wildlife rescue.
Rescuers were called to an industrial estate in Lea Bridge, Hackney, east London.
The black goop covering the fox cub was discovered to be bitumen, similar to tar, and he had been struggling to free himself from a container of the stuff for over four hours.
The spokesman said: “Luckily, his cries were heard by workers who pulled him to freedom.
“Unfortunately, he then got stuck to the road.
“Rescuer Lawrie and vet Alda raced through London for over an hour to get to him, but even getting him off the ground proved hard.
“He was so stuck that the team spent more than 30 minutes gently freeing each limb before rushing him back to the hospital.”
The adhesion was so strong that one wrong pull could have easily broken a leg or worse and he was so encased that he was even unable to urinate until the area was cleared.
Back at the hospital and “after a very awkward Tesco trip for baby oil”, Lawrie, Alda, Sue and staff member, Alannah, had their work cut out
Using baby oil to soften the bitumen and WD-40 in limited places to dissolve it, they worked until 2am gently soaking, scrubbing and drying the poor boy until hints of orange started to return.
Some places were so matted that the fur had to be cut free.
The spokesman said: “By the end of day one, the cub was looking much more fox-like already.
“This is just the start of a very long process.
“Cleaning sessions are limited by stress and the risk of hypothermia and there is still the worry of ingestion or toxicity
“But we are absolutely determined to give this boy a chance.”
Rescuers hope to be able to free the animal so that it has a chance of reuniting with its mother, who was seen trying to rescue her cub.
Bitumen is made from crude oil and is mostly used as a binder in roads.
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