Radio-tracking collars have arrived at Channel Islands National Park. These new and refurbished radio collars will be going on island foxes across San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands over the next two months.
Collar identification numbers and radio frequency are originally noted on the collar band. When the bands are pre-punched with holes to fascilitate an adjustable fit on individual foxes, the numbers can become obscured.
In the field the goal is to keep an island fox in-hand for as little time as possible. By putting the important numbers on the pink ribbon, the collar can be quickly grabbed from a bag, the ribbon taken off, the collar fitted, and the fox released. Then the collar numbers can be written on the data sheet for that individual island fox.
Friends of the Island Fox just provided 15 refurbished and 15 new radio collars for the northern islands.
But 8 of those new collars still need funding!
If you donate $350 for a new radio collar today, your collar will be going on an island fox in the next few weeks.
FIF also still needs to raise funds for 11 refurbished radio collars that will be finished in early September and ready to go on Catalina Island foxes.
$220 refurbishes a used radio collar
$350 funds a new radio collar
Radio collars monitor island foxes in the wild, providing an early warning of disease or other threats to an entire island's population.
When you donate to Friends of the Island Fox you can see where your donation goes