Spring Is the Time for Island Fox Pups

Spring is blooming across the Channel Islands. The mountain morning glory unfurls its white flowers tinged in pink.

In protective dens across the islands, female island foxes are giving birth to their litters of pups. The green hillsides with their flowers hint that the rainfall has been good this year. If the plants are healthy they will produce abundant fruit this summer. The Catalina cherry, toyon and prickly pear cactus are all important food sources for the island fox. Island fox food. If the plants grow well, the animals that depend on them will do well too.

Last year the drought impacted island foxes. Fewer pups were born and many were underweight. This year we are hoping for healthy island fox pups. Typically island foxes have 2 pups, but if there is abundant food they can have up to 5 pups.

Representatives from Friends of the Island Fox were out on Santa Cruz Island last week. More on Santa Cruz Island. The hillsides were green and the Catalina cherry trees were covered in blooms. We’re looking for a special island fox pup to be born that will be communicating out to the world about its daily life as it grows up.

This exciting birth is just around the corner. We hope that by sharing the daily adventures of this little island fox via Twitter, people around the world will have a better understanding of the challenges the island fox faces living on an island and being an endangered species. (Link to video - island fox encounters bald eagle chick)

Are you ready to follow an island fox pup as it grows up?

Island Fox Happenings

April is a busy time for island foxes and Friends of the Island Fox. 

Out on the islands female foxes are searching for the perfect den site in between rocks or under vegetation. They are looking for just the right spot because April is the month that many island fox pups are born. (more on island fox pups)  Keep checking back to islandfox.org for a birth announcement mid-April. We're waiting for a special island fox to be born and you'll get to follow along as it grows up via Twitter.


Friends of the Island Fox will also be helping to...

Celebrate California Wildlife 

at the  

Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden
Earth Day Expo 

on Saturday and Sunday, April 9th and 10th

from 10 AM - 4 PM

Come by and visit us and the Zoo's live island fox. There will be Fox Talks at the island fox exhibit at 12 PM and 2:30 PM. We will also be doing radio tracking demonstrations throughout the day. 

It's Pupping Season for Island Foxes

Across the Channel Islands a new generation of island foxes are being born. Each litter of pups are an important step toward full recovery for the endangered populations on San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Santa Catalina Islands.


Island foxes reproduce only once a year, in the spring. This year's weather has been good for native plants which suggests we could see a large number of healthy island fox pups.

With small parents, island fox pups, or kits, are very tiny at birth. They weigh approximately the same as two AAA batteries and would easily fit in the palm of your hand.

Young foxes are very vulnerable and are born in a den. The den provides protection from weather and other animals for the first weeks of their lives. Here the mother feeds them milk until they start to eat solid foods. The father brings food back to the den both for his mate and the pups.

Unlike most other canines, island foxes don't appear to dig. They must find a den site either in a hole dug by another island species, (spotted skunk, ground squirrels, etc.) or a naturally made hollow under dense vegetation, tree roots or rocks.
Pups born in March or April are emerging from dens on the islands in May. Both parents care for the youngsters, helping to feed them and teaching them how to find food. This pup is with its father, an older male, in the fog on San Nicolas Island.

Island foxes grow up fast and by September they will be ready to leave their parents and strike out on their own. Annual counting of island foxes doesn't occur until the fall to insure that pups are weaned and somewhat independent. During trapping and counting, island foxes also undergo annual health checks. Radio monitoring collars are replaced or put on and island foxes are given vaccinations against distemper and rabies.

Last year biologists recorded impacts on island foxes from climate change. Continued drought reduced fruit on the islands' native plants. The combination of increased temperatures, low rainfall and reduced food resources caused the litter size born to each pair of island foxes to be small. A normal island fox litter is 2-3 pups. In good years, litters of up to 5 pups are possible. Unfortunately, the pups born in 2009 also had reduced birth weight, impacting their survival.

This year's normal rain levels may bring more positive pup numbers. Biologists are hoping for numerous healthy pups to continue the island fox's successful recovery.