The creators of a widely reported video of urban fox-hunting in London's Victoria Park now claim it was a hoax, the Guardian reports.

The group set up a blog, "Urban Fox Hunters", and posted videos on YouTube seeming to depict a hunt. But the foxes shown were not killed – instead, a dog with a fox pelt attached was chased down the streets by the bat-wielding hoaxers.

The media response was intense in the wake of a recent fox attack. Several groups offered significant rewards to identify those in the video.