Friends of the Island Fox Research Grant 2019

Friends of the Island Fox is currently accepting applications for the 2019 FIF Research Grant.

The mission of Friends of the Island Fox (FIF) is to bring together conservation professionals and concerned private citizens to create public awareness about the island fox and to raise funds to support education, research, and conservation measures to ensure the island fox's survival and protect its island home.
 

In 2019, Friends of the Island Fox is making $5,000 available in grant funding to researchers working on projects that align with our mission.

Grant Application pdf 

Applications will be accepted through July 12, 2019. Recipients will be notified September 9, 2019.

• What is the typical size of island fox territory? 
• How has the genetic bottleneck of 2000 impacted genetic diversity of island foxes on Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands? 
• What are the greatest disease threats to long-term island fox survival? 
• What is the relationship between island foxes and island spotted skunks?
• What is the best scientific method to determine island fox age? 

The more we know about island foxes, the safer their future will be.

Previous FIF Research Grant Recipients
2018 - "The Channel Island Food Web–A Decade of Dietary Resource Use in Channel Island Fox: Implications for Reproduction, Recruitment, and Resilience in a Changing Climate." - Juliann Schamel, 2019 Update

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Fox Foto Friday - Foxes and Spotted Skunks

How can we enter the world of the island fox and the other animals that live on the Channel Islands without disturbing their natural behavior? One way is with strategically placed movement-activated cameras.

Researchers found an area with evidence of island fox activity. Evidence like tracks and scat. They positioned the special camera and left it to document the animals that walked past. Not only was an island fox using this area of Santa Rosa Island, so were the two spotted skunks, pictured below. Both were using the area at night.

Notice that the dates on the two images are months apart. Still, images like these are helping to provide information to better understand the interactions between species and the species themselves. Island spotted skunks are considered solitary creatures, yet the image captured two together. The biologists titled this image a "rumble." What brought these two skunks together? Territorial dispute? Mating season? There is so much to learn about the lives of island foxes and their neighbors.