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.  

Fox Foto Friday - This Is Island Fox Science

Fresh from the fox swabs...This past week, Friends of the Island Fox had the opportunity to spend some time in the field with the biologists of the Catalina Island Conservancy during their final days this season counting and providing island foxes with health checks.

During health checks, samples, like the one shown above, were taken. (how are island foxes swabbed?)

Soon these swabs will be boxed up and sent across the country to enrich the data set of Dr. Alexandra De Candia. During FIF's first virtual "Date with a Fox," Dr. Allie shared her work on the island fox microbiome and its importance for fox health and immunity.

Dr. Allie explains that Catalina Island biologists "have been collecting swabs since 2017, so we are building a really nice longitudinal dataset. 2020–2021 samples will help that dataset grow. This will allow us to look at changes in fox microbiomes through time and (once we have enough repeat individuals sampled) see how treatment or past history of mite infection alters microbiomes in the short- and long-term."

If you missed the virtual event you can watch the video here.

More on the connection between microbiome and fox health on Catalina Island.

Not only were the CIC biologists taking these samples to enrich the microbiome data set, they were also putting radio collars, funded by you, on island foxes.

Fox Foto Friday - Color-Coded Radio Collars

Why so many smiling faces? 

Nineteen refurbished radio-tracking collars and two new ones provided by Friends of the Island Fox are being deployed onto Catalina Island foxes, right now.

Why the bands of color?

Catalina Island Conservancy biologist Emily Hamblen explains that the color-coding is individual to each collared fox. Especially on Catalina Island, this adds an additional way to collect information on individual animals. "When visitors report that they have seen a fox with a specific color combination," Hamblen says, "...it helps us keep track of foxes between telemetry shifts."  

This fall on Catalina Island, four new faces are working with Hamblen: (Above, from left to right) Makenzie Henk (Conservancy wildlife biologist), wildlife interns Ava Johnson and Jenna Hatfield, and Ricky Robbins (wildlife technician). Hamblen says: "This year, the fox interns helped us prepare the collars by adding the colored tape, checking to ensure the frequencies were correct, and punching holes in the leather of the collars so that we can place them on foxes more quickly in the field."

The Catalina team is into its third week of counting island foxes and placing radio collars. "We have placed 11 collars so far," Hamblen reports, "and plan on placing the rest over the next 4 weeks!" 

She added, "I was reflecting on how important the contributions of FIF have been to the success of this year's fox program."

In 2021, your donations provided the following for island foxes on Catalina:

• 350 canine distemper virus and rabies vaccinations
• studying disease antibodies in 80 individuals
• refurbishing 19 radio collars (including 10 funded by a grant from the Fresno Chaffee Zoo Wildlife Conservation Fund)
• 2 new radio collars

Your donations to Friends of the Island Fox makes a difference and goes directly toward conservation and research efforts.

Which radio collar on the table, did you help fund?

 

Watch a radio-collared island fox being released

2021 Radio Collars for Channel Islands National Park

Can I Feed An Island Fox?

Please don't feed island foxes.

If there is one thing to remember when you visit the Channel Islands, this may be the most important. Wild animals who receive food from people frequently pay the consequences.

Emily Hamblin, Senior Wildlife Biologist on Catalina Island conveyed the news about a female fox. "We were very saddened this month to receive a call about a roadkill fox [hit by a car] on Stage Road. As soon as we heard the location, we knew which fox we were going to see."

The female Catalina Island fox was first caught as a pup in 2012. Most years she was captured and given a health check. There were physical signs that she had mothered pups. This year she received her health check and, despite being an older fox at nine years old, she was in good health.

"She was always gentle, didn't bite," Hamblin wrote, "and was easier to work with than the average fox. After we released her, she stayed nearby in the road instead of running off. From these actions, it was clear she was being fed by humans."

It was just two days after her health check that Hamblin was retrieving the female fox's body from the road. Part of the biologist's job is to investigate fox deaths. 

"It is hard for me not to feel a bit of hopelessness as I respond to these calls over and over again...When people feed foxes on the road, they are essentially conditioned to think that dinner is in the middle of the highway. Far too often, this behavior results in foxes being unintentionally lured to their death."

This island fox's death was preventable. 

We can warn drivers about foxes near roads. We can provide Fox-Safe bins to keep island foxes out of trash and lockers for campers, but only people can make the choice to protect island foxes. 

When you feed an island fox, you threaten its life. Island foxes that seek food from people end up entrapped, entangled, and in danger.

Save an Island Fox - Don't Feed It.

Read Emily Hamblin's full story in the Catalina Islander

Support Conservation Efforts That Work

In 2015, Friends of the Island Fox began working with the Catalina Island Conservancy (CIC) on a project to replace deteriorating trash containers that threatened island fox survival. (See the direct and in-direct danger to island foxes)

As of January 2017, FIF has funded the installation of 7 “Fox-Saver” bins. Julie King, Director of Conservation and Wildlife Management with the CIC sent us this exciting report from the field:

The wildlife-proof cans that we installed out at Parson's Landing (remote beach campground) have made a HUGE difference! 

Before I would spend 30 minutes each day I was out there [counting island foxes] picking up trash that foxes and ravens had drug into the bushes. I would always catch foxes there ... loaded with lice. [They had become] habituated moochers. This year, it was so different. No trash to be found on the ground or in the bushes and no foxes caught. To me, no foxes in camp is a testament to the effectiveness of the new trash cans. No more free meals. Outside of camp, there were plenty of foxes and they were all in great shape. Nice to see!

Six new bins have replaced the two large dilapidated wooden containers. The result is healthier island foxes, no foxes coming to the area for free food and becoming more likely to be hit by automobiles, and no foxes trapped inside deathtrap trash cans.

We know what works. Removing an unnatural food source also reduces unnatural concentrations of island foxes thereby decreasing the possible spread of disease. Prevention of problems is financially cost effective and reduces the need to react to crisis situations.

Friends of the Island Fox supports conservation measures that are proven to work:

• Vaccination for island foxes against canine distemper and rabies
• Monitoring with radio collars and annual counting to quickly detect unnatural population decline
• Securing trash with “Fox-Saver” bins to deter unnatural island fox behavior and threats from human activities

We are working with our friends at CIC on other measures to make campgrounds less attractive to island foxes and more usable for humans.

Now more than ever, island foxes need you to secure their survival into the future.

"Fox-Saver Bins" Saving Channel Island Foxes on Catalina

What's so special about this trash bin?

As Channel Island foxes recovered on Santa Catalina Island, their growing numbers brought a new challenge. Old and open trash cans were posing a double threat to fox survival. 

Island foxes attracted to available trash were being hit by cars on their way to trash cans and also becoming trapped inside, sometimes with lethal consequences.

The solution was "Fox-Saver" bins, sealed receptacles built to only be opened by human hands. In 2015, Friends of the Island Fox donors raised $6,000 to fund three of these special trash bins. One student created an entire T-shirt campaign to support the effort and raised nearly $1,000.

New "Fox-Saver" bin in Bird Park, photo courtesy of CIC

The trash bins have been install just in time for the summer season, when Catalina's parks and open areas are visited by over a million tourists. This "Fox-Saver" bin has been placed in Bird Park (one of the locations which had claimed the most island fox lives). You can see the two open trash cans that were then removed, on the left side of the photo. The two additional "Fox-Saver" bins, plus a fourth sponsored by island efforts, have also been put in place in the park, ready to secure trash and protect island foxes.

This was a joint effort of island fox supporters of all ages from across the country. Protecting this rare species requires all of us working together. If you visit Catalina this summer, take a look at the positive change that can be accomplished with group effort. Thank You to our friends at the Catalina Island Conservancy, the Island Company, the City of Avalon, and everyone helping make Catalina a safer home for island foxes.

Why were Catalina's island foxes faced with near extinction?
Challenges faced by island foxes on Catalina Island:

• Reducing Ear Tumors and High Cancer Rate
• Disease Threats - Canine Distemper Virus
• The Story of Burnie Boots - Island Fox Injured in Catalina Fire 
• The Three-legged Island Fox
• The Island Fox and the Fishing Hook

Considering Epidemic Disease Threats to Island Foxes

courtesy of Paul Bronstein

What saved the Catalina Island fox from rapid extinction when canine distemper virus was introduced between 1998-1999? 

An isthmus and human action

Epidemic disease poses a major threat to naive island species like the Channel Island fox. When distemper was introduced via a raccoon transported unknowingly to the island, the disease spread rapidly throughout the island fox population. Nearly all of the 103 surviving Catalina Island foxes lived north of the isthmus, a narrow neck of land connecting the western and eastern parts of the island.

photo from NOAA of Santa Catalina Island

Fox traffic across this exposed area is minimal.

At the recent Island Fox Conservation Working Group Meeting, Brian Hudgens from the Institute for Wildlife Studies (IWS) reported on his findings “Mapping Epidemic Risk in Island Foxes.”

Working with Julie King from the Catalina Island Conservancy, they considered the map of Catalina Island and the areas where epidemic disease is most likely to be introduced via human visitors–the towns of Avalon and Two Harbors, beaches and harbors, and youth camps. They combined this with fox related factors:

1. island fox population density on Catalina
2. typical home range size of individual island foxes
3. range overlap with neighboring island foxes
4. number of interactions with neighboring foxes

It quickly became apparent that island fox density on Catalina Island is highest in the areas near human habitation; the areas which also pose the greatest risk for disease introduction.

Next, Hudgens created a computer model calculating how introduced canine distemper virus would travel across the island and through the island fox population. What they didn’t expect was that in most cases it didn’t matter where the disease was introduced, in 3 - 4 months an epidemic would cause 100% mortality island-wide. The only deviation was a reduction to 90-100% mortality, if the disease was introduced at the far western end of the island, with the isthmus to hinder the infection spread.

Adding vaccination into the modeling dramatically changed the modeling outcome and the most significant protection was provided by island-wide vaccination of individual island foxes. When a significant number of island foxes across the island were vaccinated in the model, animals that were not vaccinated had a four-times better chance of surviving as well.

Friends of the Island Fox funded 400 island fox distemper vaccinations in 2012.

Each vaccination for rabies or distemper costs $10.
 
Vaccination provides vital protection for these rare island foxes. Successful recovery can only be maintained through vigilant proactive protection.  

Where to See An Island Fox 2012 Update

Wild populations of island foxes are increasing toward recovery across the California Channel Islands and with each year the opportunity to see an island fox in its natural environment increases.

But not everyone can journey to the islands or spend time in wilderness areas. A small number of island foxes can be found in captive facilities. 

Tachi, Catalina Island Conservancy

On the island of Santa Catalina the Catalina Island Conservancy cares for Tachi, an island fox that can not be released into the wild. Tachi makes appearances at special events on Santa Catalina Island and she can be seen on a special tour into the island's interior.

Several zoos exhibit island foxes from San Clemente Island. This subspecies of island fox is not listed as endangered but is still vulnerable to population declines because it is found only on San Clemente Island and no where else in the world. Captive management of the San Clemente Island fox helped develop husbandry techniques and establish veterinary care procedures for the endangered subspecies of foxes on the northern islands and Santa Catalina Island.

You Can Also See Island Foxes At:

Santa Barbara Zoo

The Santa Barbara Zoo exhibits a male from Santa Rosa Island that requires daily medical care due to a chronic eye condition. They also maintain the Stud Book or breeding records for all the island foxes in captivity on the mainland.

San Clemente island fox at L.A. Zoo

Los Angeles Zoo

The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens exhibits a male that was the first island fox born in captivity at the Santa Barbara Zoo. He is an older fox and the father of two pups, that are now adults and living at other facilities.

Friends of the Island Fox participates in an Earth Day celebration of California wildlife in conjunction with the Docent Conservation Committee at the Los Angeles Zoo in April.

Charles Paddock Zoo

Exhibits a Male born at the Santa Barbara Zoo

CuriOdyssey at Coyote Point
Exhibits a Male born at the Los Angeles Zoo

Orange County Zoo

Exhibits a Male born at the Los Angeles Zoo

California Living Museum- Bakersfield
Exhibits a Male from San Clemente Island

Even if you can’t venture over to the Channel Islands, zoos that are helping save the species can give you an opportunity to see an island fox in person. This rare species is one of California’s precious treasures.


What is it like on the islands?

Experiencing Santa Cruz Island
Habitat Restoration on Santa Cruz Island
Experiencing Santa Rosa Island

Travel with Friends of the Island Fox to Santa Cruz Island, May 5, 2012

Getting there - Island Packers

Fox Radio Collars Help Determine Effects of Motorcycle Race

Female island fox wearing her new GPS collar

We often talk about how radio-tracking collars on endangered island foxes provide an important early warning sign of disease or unnatural predators on the Channel Islands. Importance of radio collars

In December, radio tracking collars and special GPS tracking collars provided important information on island fox locations and activity during the Catalina Grand Prix motorcycle event.

Catalina Island Conservancy biologists were able to determine the location of island foxes near the race event, track fox activity during the event and determine that no foxes were directly injured by motorcyclists. At the end of January, the island foxes with GPS collars will be captured again so that detailed information can be downloaded from their GPS collars. These high-tech collars record location data every 75 minutes. By putting these special collars on a group of island foxes before the motorcycle race, movement behavior was documented prior to the race, during the race event and for several weeks following the event.

When the full data is collected and analyzed the biologists will be able to determine if the race changed the animals’ behavior and how long it took for the foxes to return to their normal movement patterns.

This is a great example of how technology can help us make better choices in our interactions with wildlife, especially endangered species like island foxes.

Great News for the Island Fox From Catalina Island

Autumn is the time for counting island foxes across the Channel Islands and providing them with health checks. Early word from our friends at the Catalina Island Conservancy is that island fox numbers are up and they may see their population reach a 1000 this year! 


Considering that the Catalina Island fox was nearly wiped out by the introduction of the distemper virus in the late 1990s, the rebounding of the wild population is a huge success story. Friends of the Island Fox has participated in this recovery by funding radio tracking collars for island foxes on Catalina.


The CIC has posted a wonderful slide show of the whole capturing and health check process. Click HERE to visit the slide show.

Read more about Island Fox Health Checks and listen to biologist Julie King as she does a health check in the field.


Friends of the Fox offers an interactive Fox Health Check Presentation to teach children and adults about the island fox and the work biologists actually do in the field. 

To contact us regarding programs about the island fox: 805 228-4123 or admin@islandfox.org

The Island Fox and the Fishing Hook

Because island foxes live on the Channel Islands and not on the mainland, some people wonder how their actions can do anything to help the island fox. But the island fox is our neighbor and our actions affect the fox directly and indirectly.

For example, someone fishing on or around Santa Catalina Island cut loose or lost a fishing line with a lure. The large lure found its way on shore. Perhaps it smelled of fish, because it attracted a curious and hungry island fox. While the angler had no intention of hurting an island fox, the abandoned lure did not discriminate. The hook lodged in the male fox’s upper and lower lip. He became unable to eat or drink, resulting in malnourishment and dehydration.

Fortunately, the injured fox was caught and taken into the Catalina Island Conservancy clinic on November 27, 2008. The lure was removed and the island fox’s face was stitched up. He was treated with antibiotics and nutritional supplements. By December 8th, he had recovered and was able to be released back into the wild on Santa Catalina Island. Other island foxes treated by the Catalina Island Conservancy.

Abandoned fishing hooks, line and nets can cause unintentional injury to sea life, birds and mammals like the island fox. You can make a big difference for a wide variety of animals by discarding used fishing line and hooks into the trash. If you find abandoned fishing equipment carefully gather it and dispose of it appropriately, but be careful of hooks! Abandoned fishing hooks are dangerous for everyone.

33rd Radio Collar Funded

As the good news of higher island fox populations is coming in from across the California Channel Islands, the crisis of extinction seems to be past. The challenge of the future comes in monitoring recovering populations.

To that end, Friends of the Island Fox is proud to announce the funding of our 33rd radio tracking collar. This collar will go on a fox on Santa Catalina Island and be monitored by the biologists with the Catalina Island Conservancy.

Radio tracking collars have proved to be the best way to monitor large segments of the island fox population. Whether biologists are on the ground tracking the “beep” with a hand-held antenna, flying over in a small plane, or reading data from an automated system, the radio collar on the individual island fox provides valuable information.

• Locating individuals: Each collared island fox has its own radio frequency. In the case of an emergency, like the Catalina Fire, surviving individual foxes can be located quickly by airplane fly over. The status of a large amount of the population can be determined in a short amount of time. If a collared fox is seen with an injury, biologists can locate the individual via its radio collar and specifically set trap cages to catch that one fox. This makes medical care more efficient.

• Health care in the field: Biologists can track a recovering island fox, like the little female that was burned in the 2007 Catalina Fire. Burnie Boots. Being able to watch from a distance allows the patient to return to a wild lifestyle.

• Behavior: Radio collars provide information on island fox movement across the islands. We are learning that male offspring travel further from their parents territory than females. The territory of individual foxes can be closer approximated, allowing foxes that are being released a better chance of being released into unclaimed territory. Release Video

• Mortality signals: If an island fox is completely still for six hours, the radio collar will give off a special “mortality” beep. This allows biologists to locate an island fox that has died. Necropsy, or study of the dead body, can quickly determine cause of death. Island Fox CSI. If an island fox has been killed by a golden eagle, died of disease, or gotten trapped in a man-made facility, actions can be rapidly taken to safeguard the rest of the island fox population on that island.

Each collared island fox is an important link in a vital monitoring network.

Each radio collar costs $250.

Your donations have helped to fund 33 radio tracking collars. Thank you for helping to make a positive difference.

Update on a Special Island Fox

May 2007 a wild fire swept over a large area of Santa Catalina Island (Helping Island Foxes In Fire Area). After the fire, a female island fox was found with severe burns on her four paws. Her fur was singed and sooty. Diligent care provided by the Catalina Island Conservancy allowed the little fox to recover and she was released July 11, 2007 wearing a radio collar funded by donations to Friends of the Island Fox.

In November of 2007, “Burnie Boots,” as she has been nicknamed, was captured during island-wide fox health checks and she appeared to be doing well. Her feet had recovered fully. The only sign of her previous injury is that two of her toe pads are fused together. This fusing of the tissue happened during the healing process.

Boots’ radio collar transmits a specific radio frequency that allows biologists to hone in on her location and check on her movements, even if they can not physically see her. As long as the little fox continues to actively move around, her radio collar transmits a constant signal. If something should happen to Boots and she should stop being active, the radio collar would send out a distinctive distress signal.

As July 2008 approached, Boots’ battery-powered collar was in need of replacement. Using the radio collar signal, the Catalina biologists were able to set a trap specifically in the area where Boots was living. They captured her and, as the photo shows, her fur has completely recovered. The biologists replaced Boots' radio collar, checked her health and found a happy surprise. Not only had Boots recovered from last year’s burns, she showed signs of nursing pups. This spring the little fox saved from the fire became a mother. Her pups are helping to increase the Catalina Island fox population.

Burnie Boots’ success story is the result of many people working together to help the endangered island fox. The Catalina Island Conservancy manages the daily needs of this specific subspecies of island fox. Donations raised through Friends of the Island Fox by students in the Fox Ambassador Program and from concerned private individuals provided Boots with both of her radio collars.

Saving this endangered species requires community awareness and involvement. You can make a difference and help save the Channel island fox.

Donations to Friends of the Island Fox are used directly toward island fox conservation efforts and public education. You can donate directly to Friends of the Island Fox through our PayPal button at the top right corner or by check to:

Friends of the Island Fox
3760 Groves Place, Somis CA 93066

(805) 386-0386

Your school, class or youth group can become Island Fox Ambassadors

For questions about school presentations and the Fox Ambassador Program contact us at islandfoxnews@gmail.com

Listen to a fox health check in progress.

Video of Wild Island Fox

What is small, but mighty? Only 3-6 lbs., but willing to stand its ground and protect its territory? An island fox.

Catalina Island Conservancy wildlife biologist Calvin Duncan approached a wild fox’s territory, he took this video of an island fox on Santa Catalina Island.

Protecting territory is important for a pair of island foxes. They need a hunting area that will provide enough food to support themselves and their pups. How does an island fox let you know you are in its territory? Watch and see.



Images like this of an island fox in the wild are very rare. Island foxes on Santa Catalina Island declined dramatically between 1998 and 2000 because of a disease, canine distemper, that was passed to them from a domestic dog. Today the estimated population has increased to approximately 572 individuals, slightly more than one third of their original number. Catalina island fox decline

The fact that island foxes are running wild again on Catalina, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and San Miguel Islands is due to the undaunted efforts of biologists, scientists, government agencies, private conservation organizations and concerned individuals like YOU.

When you support island fox conservation efforts YOU HELP to make sure that moments like this will continue into the future.

A special thanks to the Catalina Island Conservancy fox biologists Calvin Duncan and Julie King for sharing their experiences in the field with us. For more on their work with the Catalina island fox: Counting island foxes; Island Fox Health Check.

See video of an island fox release on San Miguel Island. Link

Island fox and fruit
What do island fox pups look like?
What do island foxes eat?
Why are they endangered?
More about island foxes

Island Fox Health Checks on Catalina Island

The Santa Catalina Island fox became endangered when an outbreak of disease, believed to be canine distemper, killed over 85% of the population in just a few years. To help prevent such catastrophic events in the future, biologists across the Channel Islands use the late summer and early fall to count island foxes and give them health checks.

In September, Friends of the Island Fox went out in the field with Julie King, fox biologist for the Catalina Island Conservancy as she did health checks on wild island foxes.

Click to Listen to Island Fox Talk Podcast in the field with Julie King as she examines a young female island fox.

An island fox health check involves:

• taking the weight - The island fox is weighed while still in the trap.
• evaluation of over all physical status - The biologist feels the fox’s body for any lumps, bumps or wounds. (photo above)

• visual check of teeth, coat - Teeth are checked for wear and breakage (this female fox was under 2 years old but had a broken tip on an upper canine tooth); the coat is examined for overall heath and the presence of parasites, fleas and ticks.
• ear exam - An otoscope is used to look in the fox’s ears. The biologist is looking for ear mites, inflammation and disease.

• vaccinations - Island foxes receive vaccinations to help reduce the chance of disease.

• drawing a blood sample - The blood sample provides additional information on health and possible disease exposure. A mask is put over the foxes eyes to reduce the animal's stress while being handled by humans.

How was the island fox caught for the health check?

The island foxes on Santa Catalina are increasing in number, but a new threat is causing them problems, ear mites. Cancerous tumors are forming in the ears of island foxes on Catalina. The relationship between the ear mites and the cancer is currently being studied. Friends of the Island Fox would like to help the Catalina Island Conservancy in their quest to solve this mystery that is posing a new danger to island foxes. You can help by making a donation through the "Pay Pal" or "Donate Now" buttons at the top right of the page.

Through generous donations Friends of the Island Fox has funded 17 radio collars in the past 2 years so island foxes can be monitored in the wild. Your donation to Friends of the Island Fox helps fund conservation efforts across all of the Channel Islands to help save the island fox.

Friends of the Island Fox Supports Integrated Fox Conference

Saving the endangered island fox requires the efforts of caring and knowledgeable individuals from around the country. The Integrated Fox Conference brings all of these people together once a year.

The third week in June, biologists and scientists will meet with conservation professionals and land managers for each of the Channel Islands to report on the current status of all six subspecies of island fox and to make conservation decisions for the upcoming year.

To support the efforts of the Integrated Fox Conference, this year Friends of the Island Fox is providing a grant to the U. S. National Park Service to help offset the transportation costs of the four veterinarians that provide care to the foxes on the islands and who do veterinary laboratory work during the year. These devoted people help maintain the health of island foxes and move quickly when disease threatens this endangered population.

• Karl Hill, DVM - Santa Barbara Zoo
• Karen Blumenshine, DVM - Wildlife Services Associates
  
• Winston Vickers, DVM - Institute for Wildlife Studies
• Linda Munson, DVM-PMI - University of California, Davis

The Integrated Fox Conference is sure to bring to light unexpected successes and new conservation challenges regarding the island fox. FIF will post a summary of the Conference, including an update on the status of island foxes on Catalina Island after the fire.

FIF thanks all of you who have donated toward island fox conservation during the first half of 2007. Your contributions have made this grant possible.

See last year’s

• “Highlights from the Integrated Fox Conference, June 20-22, 2006” Highlights 2006
• Mid year population UPDATE

Fire and Foxes on Catalina Island - Update

Just a quick Update on the island foxes on Santa Catalina Island.

Friends of the Island Fox has been in communication with the Catalina Island Conservancy (CIC). The few individual island foxes that are in captive care for health problems and Tachi, CIC's education fox, are all fine. (For more about Tachi)

As of Thursday May 17, the fire is completely out. Now biologists are beginning the task of trying to locate radio collared island foxes to determine if there were any fatalities due to the fire.

CIC will make their full report at the Fox Conference in mid June. A complete summary of all island fox conservation successes and issues will be posted here following the Conference. (most recent look at island foxes on Santa Catalina Island)

Thank you for your concern about the island foxes in the face of this recent fire threat.

Fire and Foxes on Catalina Island

As of 6 PM Friday May 11 the wildfire on Catalina Island appears to be 35% contained. The current situation is an unfortunate example of the delicate nature of island habitats.

Officials from the Catalina Island Conservancy report:

Bald Eagles
The bald eagle chicks that recently hatched on the island are safe. The nests are on the eastern end of the island and not near the fire area. (more on the new bald eagle chicks)

Island Foxes
Currently the effect of the fire on wild island foxes is unknown. Radio collars on individual foxes will be vital in locating individual animals and determining if any have been overwhelmed by the wildfire.

This is another situation that highlights the importance of radio collars on the endangered island foxes on San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands. Island foxes are currently having their pups on the islands. This new generation will soon need radio collars.

You can help make sure all endangered island foxes have radio collars.

More on the Catalina island foxes.

As details regarding the Santa Catalina island foxes and the Catalina Island Conservancy become available Friends of the Island Fox will provide updates through our Island Fox News e-mails. To be added to the e-mail list contact us at islandfoxnews@gmail.com

For photos and an article in the Los Angeles Times CLICK HERE