Tuesday, June 25, 2019

More Radio Collars for Island Foxes !


This island fox is smiling because it is wearing a newly refurbished radio collar. More about M152

Two things happened this week:
  • 7 newly refurbished radio collars arrived at Channel Islands National Park to be deployed on San Miguel and Santa Rosa Island foxes
  • FIF funded our 27th radio collar this year!

Twenty refurbished radio collars went to Santa Cruz Island in May to be fitted on island foxes this summer. 

You helped fund these radio collars to monitor island fox health and welfare

But we aren't done yet. 

Health checks and annual counting are starting across the islands. This is when old damaged radio collars are removed and replaced with new or refurbished radio collars. 

 


FIF is hoping to fund:

  • 5 more $350 new collar
  • 13 more $220 refurbished collars 

We know we can do this with YOUR HELP!


The time to radio collar island foxes is right NOW! 
Please DONATE TODAY 

Monday, June 10, 2019

FIF Funds Important Health Investigations for Island Foxes

Why are these biologists smiling? Because you are helping island foxes.

Mike Watling (FIF) presents funds to Lara Brenner (CIC) and Laura Shaskey (CINP)

At the annual meeting of the Island Fox Conservation Working Group, Mike Watling, a member of the Friends of the Island Fox Advisory Committee, presented FIF donations to support important investigations into the health of island foxes.

$3,000 to the Fox Program at Catalina Island Conservancy
tick attached to fox lower eyelid
This funding will test a second year of tick samples to determine the threat to island foxes from Lyme disease introduced to several islands in 2018. More on tick-borne disease testing. 

It also represents support from a Fresno Chaffee Zoo Wildlife Conservation grant that will analyze blood samples from island foxes on Catalina for signs of introduced disease. Once again a stow-away raccoon was recently stopped before hopping from a private boat to Catalina Island. Introduction of new diseases via pets and transported wildlife continue to be a problem for all islands, but especially Catalina. In 2018, blood samples revealed for the first time that a small number of Catalina Island foxes were exposed to a form of canine herpes virus. This important testing also detected exposure to a common dog illness, Coronavirus. 30% of the tested island foxes had been exposed to Coronavirus. Fortunately, no island foxes are known to have died from this disease.


$2,000 to the Fox Program at Channel Islands National Park
Intestinal parasites are causing early deaths among island foxes on San Miguel Island. This funding is part of a multi-pronged investigation to understand why and how new parasites are plaguing foxes on this island and why well-known parasites are causing greater impacts on San Miguel Island foxes. (see other ways FIF is helping this investigation)  

When you donate to FIF 
your donations go right to work helping island foxes.