Fox Foto Friday - Happy Fox-o-ween

We love this island fox pumpkin carved by 

2020 FIF Research Grant recipient Katie Elder. 

See Katie's report on GPS tracking collar study

Happy Halloween !

Radio Collars Going On Island Foxes!

Radio-tracking collars are the primary way that island fox survival is monitored across the Channel Islands.

 

12 new radio collars and 21 refurbished radio collars funded by your donations are going on island foxes RIGHT NOW on Catalina Island.

 

Across Catalina Island wildlife biologists are giving island foxes health checks. Weighing them, checking their ears, 

teeth, 

and overall condition.

Meet wildlife biologist Emily Hamblin and hear how she gives health checks to island foxes. "Date with a Fox" program (video recording)

Island foxes also receive vaccinations and have a sample of their blood drawn looking for signs of exposure to other diseases.

Island foxes faced near extinction on four islands twenty-two years ago. One of the causes was introduced canine distemper virus. Island foxes can be vaccinated for this disease, but new diseases arriving on the islands remains one of the greatest threats to this island species. The word for this is "biosecurity." 

Everyone that visits the islands plays a role in biosecurity. See what you can do  

Fox Foto Friday - Island Foxes Say: "Happy 50th"

Happy 50 Years of protecting Catalina Island's wildlife and wild places to the Catalina Island Conservancy (CIC).

 

This photo says it all. Twenty-three years ago Catalina Island foxes faced extinction from introduced canine distemper virus. Today Catalina's island foxes thrive.

Friends of the Island Fox works with CIC to help vaccinate island foxes, provide radio collars for monitoring survival and investigate threats from other virus introductions.

Protecting island foxes takes a community.