A red fox somehow slipped onto a cargo ship that traveled from Southampton, England, to New York.

A red fox somehow slipped onto a cargo ship that traveled from Southampton, England, to New York.

NEW YORK — This stowaway truly was sly as a fox.

A red fox somehow slipped onto a cargo ship that traveled from Southampton, England, to New York, where the animal is now in the Bronx Zoo’s care.

The zoo said Wednesday that the 11-pound male fox appears healthy after early examinations.

“He seems to be settling in well,” Keith Lovett, the zoo’s director of animal programs, said by phone. “It’s gone through a lot.”

It’s not clear how the animal got on the ship full of automobiles, which left Southampton on Feb. 4, according to the zoo. The ship arrived Feb. 18 at the Port of New York and New Jersey, and officials brought the fox to the zoo the next day. He’s estimated to be 2 years old.