Fox Foto Friday - Island Fox Status

photo courtesy of Megan Sarrail

Island foxes are a model of conservation success! 

In August of 2016, island foxes were removed from federal Endangered Species status on four islands. Over the past ten years, their survival has been monitored using radio tracking collars and annual health checks.

California's February-2026 issued "State and Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California" lists island foxes as a California State "Threatened" species on all islands.

Update 3/31/26: Island fox friend and retired member of the Island Fox Conservation Working Group, Dale Steele, clarifies "All subspecies of the Island Fox have been listed as "Threatened" [by California] since 1971. The recently published list of state and federal listed species is the most recent update including other recent petition decisions but did not change or add the Island Fox. 

Why are island foxes still considered "Threatened" when their numbers have recovered across the islands?  

While conservation efforts have been very successful, each island fox population is unique, small and limited to a single island. Looking forward all island foxes will continue to face a range of threats–from introduced disease to climate change and human impacts.

Immediate threats to island fox survival will change, but keeping an eye on this tiny canine's challenges and successes will help to keep them thriving into the future. Conservation is a process, not a checkbox. 

Island Foxes Take a Holiday

It's that time of year when island foxes take a holiday, a holiday from family life.

courtesy of National Park Service

Channel Island foxes typically form monogamous pairs. A male and a female with adjoining or overlapping territories, mate for life. Their committed relationship helps them to successfully defend territory with important food resources and enables them to successfully raise offspring.

Pups are born helpless and require dutiful parental care to survive. While the female may not allow the male into the den to see the pups for a period of time, the male plays an important role in supplying the female and the pups with food.

After the pups have been raised to an age where they can fend for themselves, 6-8 months, they set out to find their own territories. Female pups tend to establish territories close to their parents, while male pups disperse to the opposite side of the island. Male dispersal may be a natural selection adaptation to avoid breeding with close relatives.

When the pups head out, the parents tend to take a holiday from each other as well. From November to early January, island foxes live a more solitary life. Perhaps this separation enables island foxes to find adequate food during the late fall and early winter. Perhaps it creates a greater opportunity for those who have lost a mate, to find a new one. Or perhaps, after a spring and summer filled with parenting, island foxes just need a break and a little solitude.

When the male and female reunite in late December - early January, they will be ready to start a new family in the spring.

As well as monitoring for unexpected fatalities, radio tracking collars help biologists to understand island fox movement and territory size.

Students Helping Endangered Island Fox

Summer is a great time to visit the Channel Islands and the endangered island fox.

Island Fox Ambassadors from Carpinteria Family School

It is also a great time to contribute to island fox conservation. The students of Jan Silk's class at the Carpinteria Family School are Island Fox Ambassadors. Not only have they raised funds for island fox health checks, they participated in an additional service-learning project while visiting Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park.

During the years that Santa Cruz Island was a ranch, not only were large domestic livestock introduced to the island, so were invasive non-native plants. While the goats, pigs and sheep have been removed from Santa Cruz, the fennel and non-native grasses persist. Non-native plants typically do not provide food for wildlife and can push out the native plants. 

The students helped remove invasive fennel.

Trash left behind by visitors and campers can also be hazardous to native animals like the endangered island fox. The students gathered up any trash items they found and packed them off the island.

The students of Carpinteria Family School have shared their hearts with the endangered island fox and discovered not only California's Channel Islands but the role they can play as individuals and as a group in making a positive difference.

natural rocks on the beach on Santa Cruz Island

Friends of the Island Fox works with teachers, schools, youth groups and community organizations to build connections between people and the wildlife of the Channel Islands. 


For more on school programs and community presentations.

FIF school presentations are fully booked through June. We will begin scheduling for the next school year in Sept. To receive an e-mail regarding the schedule in 2014/15, e-mail islandfoxnews@gmail.com

Visiting The Channel Island Fox

Santa Cruz Island fox (Urocyon littoralis santacruzae)

Summer is a great time to visit California's Channel Island fox.

May 3, 2014 - Friends of the Island Fox led a trip to Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park. 

The day began with a visit to the National Park Headquarters in Ventura and a tour of the Visitor Center.  As well as the island fox, Santa Cruz is home to numerous endemic plants and animals (species found only on the Channel Islands, like the island scrub jay)
 

Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center

Much of the water surrounding the Channel Islands is also protected by the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary. Kelp forests surrounding the islands provide food and shelter for a variety of marine species. Ranger Tina provided an in depth talk on tide pool creatures.

The island received six inches of rain in early April which helped to make the island green and the wildflowers bountiful.

Island foxes were also abundant. Our first island fox of the day was spotted within minutes of arriving on the island. Over the course of the day, groups saw up to 10 individual island foxes. 

 
Video courtesy of trip participant Douglas E. Welch - see more trip photos at WelchWrite.com

This trip we observed interesting interactions between island foxes:

One older individual, climbing up the hillside leaving the campground, area became alert and defensive when another fox began following it. The older fox arched its tail, making itself appear larger, and defensively turned around to face its follower. However the island fox following the older individual was smaller and appeared younger, more spry. When the smaller fox reached the defensive fox, it immediately displayed submissive behavior–licking under the chin of the older fox. The older fox relaxed. There seemed to be recognition between the two individuals. It looked somewhat like a pup with a parent, but both of these island foxes were definitely adults. It is possible that the smaller fox was either an adult offspring from another year or a female approaching a male, not her mate. The two island foxes walked side-by-side for a couple of yards along the hillside. (see video above) Then the older fox continued on its way out of the campground area. The younger fox, turned around and back tracked along the path she had just walked and went the other direction. 

In another situation, two healthy adult island foxes coming from opposite directions toward the stream bed at the edge of the campground, specifically avoided each other. They passed within ten feet of each other and actively avoided an encounter. One of these island foxes was wearing a radio collar.

Seeing multiple encounters between individuals is an exciting demonstration of the successful return of this endangered species.  (More about island foxes)

Scorpion Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

You can visit three of the islands where island foxes live: Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands, in the Channel Islands National Park, and Santa Catalina Island. Each island has its own unique traits and treasures, but they all have Channel Island foxes.

courtesy of Kevin Pease

Island foxes have a long relationship with humans. We can all help that relationship continue long into the future by participating in conservation efforts to protect this species and by respecting these wild animals when we visit their only home in the whole world. 

The Science of Counting Island Foxes

courtesy of National Park Service

In 2000 when there were only 15 island foxes surviving in captive breeding pens on San Miguel, you could count them easily on your fingers.

Today all Channel Island foxes across the six islands where they live are back in the wild. (A few rescued individuals from San Clemente Island can be seen in mainland zoos.) The recovery of the endangered island fox on San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands has been record-breaking and the days of counting all of the physical island foxes are long gone.
 

courtesy of National Park Service

The process of counting foxes on each island begins in the fall with special capture cages.

These cages are set up either at the cross sections of grids or along a string depending on the island and its topography (More on strings and grids)

Cages in an area are set out over the course of a specific number of nights and checked each morning. On Catalina, each string is run for four consecutive nights; after that, typically the majority of individuals would be foxes that had already been captured on previous nights. Each island fox is identifiable because it has a Passive Identification Transponder (PIT) microchip. An island fox caught for the first time receives a PIT tag. From that point on the PIT tag allows it to be recognized as a specific individual. It can take weeks for biologists to evaluate each island.

Over the course of all the capture nights, the number of individual island foxes, their gender, ages and location caught are documented. Island foxes are quite territorial, therefore it is unlikely that a fox caught in one area of the island would be found on a different area of the island during the month of counting. (If it is, that is important too.)

The data is input into a modeling program for analysis. Different programs may be used on different islands and over the years land managers may change which program they use. The modeling program calculates the density of island foxes in specific habitats across the island and estimates a total island population.

Sometimes, however, it takes a human brain to see complexity in the numbers. On two islands where recovery has been robust over the past few years, San Miguel and Santa Catalina, the estimated population numbers appear to be higher in 2013 than they were in 2012.

But observations on both islands conclude that drought may have reduced births and did cause starvation in a number of pups last summer, prior to counting. How could the population number increase while the number of surviving pups decreased significantly?

Biologists Calvin Duncan and Julie King from the Catalina Island Conservancy explain that on Catalina they caught a greater number of adult island foxes that had not been counted for a number of years. Young animals are more likely to be curious and challenged with finding food; they venture into capture cages more readily. Once an animal is in the cage, no other can be caught that night. This year, on the fourth night of capturing, they were still finding a high percentage of animals that had not been caught on previous nights.

courtesy of Kevin Schafer

The increase in the population number for Catalina is warranted because of the number of unique individual animals that were counted. But rather than an increase in the population, the number represents a refinement of the estimate toward greater accuracy.

On both San Miguel and Santa Catalina Islands, island fox numbers have surpassed historic population figures. Both islands may have reached carrying capacity, or the number of individual animals that can find the territory and food resources necessary for a healthy life. As the drought continues this summer, there may be further impacts not only on pups, but also on older individuals.

Counting island foxes provides an important picture of island fox recovery, but observations throughout the year, health checks, blood tests, data collected from radio-collared island foxes and necropsies is vitally important to understanding the whole recovery picture.

Studying Island Fox Blood

What is the biologist doing to that island fox?

Blood samples play an important role in not only monitoring island fox health, but also in alerting biologists to potential diseases island foxes may have been exposed to. When an animal comes in contact with a disease, their immune system creates antibodies to fight against the disease threat. 

By testing island fox blood samples for titers, levels of antibodies, biologist can determine if island foxes have encountered new disease threats. They also can tell if individuals are carrying antibodies from vaccinations at high enough levels to protect them against know diseases like rabies and distemper.  

Serology, studying blood samples, may not sound very exciting, but it is very important to the recovery of the endangered island fox. Thanks to a $2,000 grant from our friends at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, island fox blood samples taken during annual fall health checks last fall will be examined for antibodies to various canine diseases (distemper, parvo, etc.).

Which Island Foxes Wear Radio Collars?

island fox with radio tracking collar; courtesy CIC

Island fox populations are returning to normal levels across the six California Channel Islands where this rare species lives. With hundreds of island foxes on each island, the number of radio-collared animals is limited to a representative group. Typically 40-60 individual animals wear radio-tracking collars on each island.

 Which island foxes receive radio tracking collars?

Island foxes that wear radio-tracking collars are typically younger–ages 1-4 years old. Island foxes can live 8-10 years in the wild, with rare individuals living to age 12 years. Younger animals are more likely to move across the islands as they try to find a mate and establish their territory. (Female that traveled across Catalina's isthmus) 

While some radio-collared island foxes are individuals with specific survival challenges (Burnie Boots and three-legged island fox), most collared island foxes act as disease and predator sentinels. If something happens to these foxes their demise is quickly brought to the biologists' attention because of the radio collar. When an island fox stops moving, even breathing, for over six-eight hours the collar signals a specific mortality signal. Using the signal, biologists can locate the island fox's body, discover the cause of death and take action. (Listen to radio signals on our Audio/Video page)

“Being able to identify the threats greatly improves our ability to understand and protect this unique species,” says Julie King, director of conservation and wildlife management for the Catalina Island Conservancy. Once the carcass is collected it is sent to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Both male and female island foxes can be sentinels. These individuals are not vaccinated against the two most threatening diseases to island foxes–rabies and canine distemper. (FIF vaccination funding) 

courtesy of Jason Bean

Reading information from the radio-collars varies across the islands. On flat-terrain islands radio receiver towers pick up the signals of island foxes in their area and relay the information to a computer terminal. Mountainous terrain is more challenging; on some islands radio-collar signals are picked up from the air by small aircraft, weekly or biweekly. On other islands, biologists with hand-held antennae and a receiver locate island foxes from vehicles or on foot.

In 2014 FIF has the goal to fund our 100th radio collar. With your help we will reach that goal. 

FIF Funds 500 Microchips for Island Fox Identification

We started with a goal of 250 microchips and with your help 

we funded 500!

island fox in a safe capture cage

That means 500 young island foxes captured during annual counting this fall will receive microchips that will identify those individual animals for the rest of their lives. 

scanner reads electronic microchip under the skin

Why are microchips so important to the conservation of the endangered island fox?

Calvin Duncan, Wildlife Biologist for the Catalina Island Conservancy, explains:

By scanning each microchip while the fox is still in the trap and checking the data we can limit the amount of time, or occurrences, that an animal is handled by humans by immediately releasing foxes that have already been captured that year. They [microchips] also support our ability to make sure each fox receives the necessary vaccines and in the proper doses. Proper identification of each fox is probably the most important aspect of our recovery and research efforts.

Microchips provide information across the life of an individual island fox, like “Burnie Boots.” Burnie’s Story

Because individual animals can be quickly identified, we now understand that male island fox pups tend to disperse as far as possible from their parents’ territory, while females tend to stay near by. On Catalina Island there is a small isthmus between the large part of the island and a small area to the northwest. Few island foxes venture across the isthmus and it was thought they were males dispersing to find territory. However, a microchip helped researchers identify a trailblazing female that also made the journey. 

How does a passive identification tag or microchip work?

Each microchip costs $10 but the investment in island fox conservation is priceless.

Hats Off to Foxes!

Endangered Channel Island foxes have friends across the United States. 

For the second year in a row the Fort Collins Colorado Foxes are bringing awareness about the endangered island fox to fans in Colorado. The Foxes are part of a summer Mountain Collegiate Baseball League. Last year the team helped FIF reach our goal to inoculate 400 island foxes against the distemper virus.

 This year, when: 

the Fort Collins Foxes meet the Boulder Collegians

on June 15th in Fort Collins, CO

the team will raffle off a replica Major League jersey to raise funds to help support microchipping 250 young island foxes.  (More on June 15 events and the drawing)

If you can't attend the game you can still support foxes by wearing one of the many styles of Foxes' baseball caps. When you purchase a Foxes baseball cap on-line, the team will make a 15% donation to Friends of the Island Fox. 

So raise your hats to the Fort Collins Foxes!

Challenge Grant to Microchip Island Foxes

Friends of the Island Fox has a goal of funding...

250 identification microchips 

for island foxes counted this fall on the northern islands

(See NPS biologist Tim Coonan's talk on the status of island foxes on the northern Channel Islands).

What is a microchip and why do endangered island foxes need them?

Each microchip costs $10 and it provides important individual identification for the entire life of an island fox.



So far in 2013 FIF has raised:

$1,198 to fund microchips for 119 island foxes

We are almost half way to our September goal of 250

FIF Education Director, Keri Dearborn and her husband Michael Lawshe propose:
  

A Challenge Grant in the name of their dog, Inali

Inali means "black fox" in Cherokee and this big black dog was a strong supporter of island fox conservation. She was the photo model for FIF's campaign to educate people about not taking pets onto the Channel Islands. Dogs, cats and raccoons can all be vectors for diseases that threaten island foxes. 

She also loved watching the videos of island foxes produced by Michael and Eclipse-1 Media for Friends of the Island Fox.

The Challenge Grant will 

match the next $300 donated to FIF for microchips

It's as if your donation is doubled.  

Inali was microchipped as a puppy. Though she passed away earlier this year, she continues to be a friend of the endangered island fox and we hope 30 island foxes will be microchipped in her name. 

Help an island fox have an identification microchip for life. 

Island Fox Donations

Any Amount $1.00 USD Fox Vaccination $10.00 USD Fox Health Check $25.00 USD Fox Microchip $10.00 USD Fox Radio Collar $300.00 USD

Microchips Identify an Island Fox For Life

microchips or PIT tags beside a penny

What's smaller than a penny and vital to island fox conservation? Microchips or passive integrated transponder tags (PIT tags).

Unlike a radio tracking collar that monitors the location and activity of an island fox, and has a 1-2 year battery life, these tiny microchips provide individual identification for the life of an island fox.

This technology is called "passive" because there is no battery involved. The tiny capsule is placed under the fox's skin using a hypodermic needle. The microchip stays in place between the shoulders and under the skin throughout the animal's life. When a biologist scans the island fox with a handheld radio-frequency reading device, the circuitry in the microchip sends an individualized code back to the reader.

The code in each microchip is different, enabling each individual island fox to have its own unique identification number. These microchips are similar to those used in pet dogs and cats. They were first used in fish like salmon, so that individual salmon could be counted as they swam past a submerged reader. The animal just has to come in close proximity to the reader for the information to be transferred.

Microchips not only identify each individual endangered island fox, they provide the ability to track data on individual animals as they mature, produce offspring and age. Not all island foxes wear radio collars and it is impossible for biologists to physically identify all of the individual island foxes. Island foxes are like people and they change in appearance over time. See if you can identify an individual island fox. 

When an island fox is caught during its first fall counting, it receives a health check and a microchip. From that moment on, it is known as an individual. For example: A female island fox was caught in September 2012 on the east end of Santa Catalina Island. She had numerous bite wounds from another island fox. Her injuries were treated topically and she was released. 

A month later in October 2012 a female island fox was caught on the west end of the island. The microchip ID revealed it was the same female. She was the first female island fox known to have traveled across the narrow isthmus since the foxes on Catalina became endangered. She traveled over 10 miles to get away from the territory of her aggressor.

Channel Islands National Park biologists have challenged FIF to:

Fund microchips for 250 island foxes in 2013

Each microchip costs $10 

Most of the foxes to be microchipped in the fall will be pups born this month. We made our goal last year. 

You can help us reach our goal of $2,500 for 250 microchips in 2013 by donating today.  

Island Fox Populations Recovering

photo courtesy of Kim Michaels, KimMichaels.com

What is the current status of the endangered Channel Island fox? In 2012 the Channel Island fox is robustly heading toward population recovery! Across all islands 90% of the population is surviving on an annual basis.

Every June biologists working with the endangered Channel Island fox come together to share information and update each other on the island foxes populating their island. June Meeting

The general consensus is that endangered populations on San Miguel, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands are all headed toward or reaching levels of recovery. (Habitat) The Santa Rosa Island fox is now increasing in number, but still is at a much lower population number than before the predation crisis caused by golden eagles and habitat destruction.

Island foxes are counted annually across the California Channel Islands in the late summer and early fall.  Animals are captured in safe traps so they can be given health checks, fitted with radio collars and given vaccinations. Friends of the Island Fox financially supports these conservation efforts.

In 2012 FIF financially supported 14 radio monitoring collars and provided funding for vaccinations against the distemper virus for 450 island foxes.

The official population estimates from 2011 are:

• San Miguel Island - 581 (up from 15 individuals in 2000)
• Santa Rosa Island - 449 (up from 15 individuals in 2000)
• Santa Cruz Island - 1302 (up from ~80 in 2000)
• Santa Catalina Island - 1542 (up from ~103 in 2000)
• San Nicolas Island - ~500
• San Clemente Island - 795

numbers represent the Santa Rosa Island population (pink line)

The recovery of the endangered Channel Island fox is one of the fasted recoveries of an endangered species in North American history. The populations on San Miguel and Santa Catalina Islands have surpassed historically recorded numbers and this year the slight drop in population on Santa Cruz Island was seen as a stabilization of a population that has reached the island’s carrying capacity.

This year the Island Fox Working Group discussed the process for delisting the island fox from the Endangered Species List. Continued monitoring to assure the populations are stable is vital to this process. You can play an important role by helping support island fox monitoring.

Channel Island Foxes Reaching Recovery!

courtesy of Anita Machlis

Twelve years ago, four subspecies of Channel Island foxes almost went extinct. Today in 2012, all populations are stable or increasing. The three populations of island foxes on San Miguel, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands have reached or are approaching the historic numbers documented before introduced disease and predation by golden eagles caused catastrophic declines.

Yesterday, June 12, 2012, the biologists, field researchers, scientists, veterinarians, government agencies and conservation organizations that make up the Integrated Island Fox Recovery Team met to report on each island fox population, compare findings and discuss actions to be taken in the coming year.

It was a day of good news:

• no island foxes killed by golden eagles since January of 2011
• reduced numbers of island foxes hit by cars
• increased numbers of pups born in 2011
• no raccoons accidentally transported to Santa Catalina Island so far in 2012
• introduced mule deer and elk have been removed from Santa Rosa Island

And changing concerns:

• to protect island foxes from the canine distemper virus, vaccinations must be given annually
• increasing island fox populations mean more interactions between wild island foxes and humans and/or their pets
• decreasing funds for monitoring efforts
• need for greater understanding of naturally occurring diseases and parasites
• need for greater understanding of natural island fox diet and impacts from interactions with humans

It was exciting to see the growing community of scientists interested in researching island foxes and the Channel Island ecosystems. There were representatives from:

• University of California, Davis and Los Angeles
• Smithsonian
• Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
• Colorado State University
• University of Wyoming

In twelve years, the San Miguel Island fox has gone from a low of 15 individuals to a thriving 581. This is an amazing population increase of 3,830%, as reported in “On Time, On Target; How the Endangered Species Act Is Saving America’s Wildlife” compiled by the Center for Biological Diversity.

At the heart of this successful recovery is the Integrated Island Fox Recovery Team and the joint effort of people from Channel Islands National Park, Catalina Island Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, Institute for Wildlife Studies, the U.S. Navy, CA Dept. of Fish & Game and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, all working together, sharing information and experience. When you add concerned private citizens like you who help support continued monitoring of island foxes by funding radio collars and annual vaccinations, you have one of the most successful efforts to save an endangered species in history.

Check back in the next few weeks for details from annual meeting.

Climate and Island Foxes

Santa Catalina Island

Across the six islands that are home to island foxes (Habitat), pairs like Tani and Tiptu are breeding and finding an appropriate den site. Island fox pups are typically born in late April.

Like all wild animals, island fox reproduction is impacted by the amount of local resources–food, water and territory. As endangered populations of island foxes have recovered, there have been several years where female foxes have had large litters of pups. Typically two pups are born in a litter, but when resources are abundant there can be as many as five pups.

Because the recovering endangered populations were small, there was little competition for territory and food. In the mid-2000s, it was not unusual for island foxes on San Miguel to have litters of three to five pups. With large litters of offspring the San Miguel Island population, that had nearly gone extinct in 2000 when there were only 15 surviving individuals, was able to exponentially increase each year.  Graph

But severe climate can greatly reduce the resources available to island foxes. 2007 was the driest year on record in southern California since National Weather Service records began in 1878; less than four inches of rain fell. The lack of rainfall reduced the plant foods on the islands which reduced the deer mice, insects and bird life. Without winter rains, the Catalina cherry, native currants, toyon and other fruit producing plants produced less fruit for the foxes to eat. Less food, meant fewer island fox pups were born or survived. The winter seasons of 2008 - 2011 averaged approximately 12 inches of rain, the low side of normal, but still enough that Channel Island wildlife flourished.
 

This winter season is showing early signs of drought. As mid-March approaches the Los Angeles area has received less than six inches of rain. This year if spring rains do not arrive, we may see fewer island foxes born and fewer that will survive. Climate fluctuations act to moderate animal and plant populations, but climate change means greater weather extremes. Drought in 2012 could make it more difficult for young island foxes like Tani to successfully reproduce and could slow down the recovery of endangered island foxes.

Channel Island Fox Heroes

courtesy National Park Service

 Many plants and animals across the country are facing challenges to their survival, but few endangered species have as many everyday heroes as the Channel Island fox.

Some heroes are the biologists and technicians that work in the field across the six Channel Islands. They count the island foxes in the wild, provide health checks and are the first line of defense protecting island foxes. Fox Biologists.

Some heroes are school children like Hannah H. and her third grade class from Montecito Union Elementary School. Hannah told her school mates about the endangered island fox and made a Fox Box to collect donations. The students from Montecito Union raised enough funds to provide a radio tracking collar for a wild island fox. Radio collars provide the second line of defense for this endangered species. (More About Radio Collars) The goal across the islands is to annually have 60-70 individual foxes on each island wearing radio collars.

Vaccinations for distemper and rabies are also vital to protecting endangered island foxes.  When Friends of the Island Fox gave presentations to the second- and third-grade students at Poinsettia Elementary School, student Shawn D. realized he could make a positive difference for this local animal. Shawn saved up his allowance to vaccinate an island fox. Vaccinations for island foxes.

2011 has been filled with heroes:

• Students at Canalino Elementary School developed their own plan to fund an island fox radio collar. Island Fox Ambassador School.
• Local restaurant Native Foods Cafe donated a percentage of a day’s sales.
• Three California zoos provided grant money (Fresno Chaffee Zoo) and education opportunities
• KLOS radio personality Cynthia Fox interviewed Friends of the Island Fox on the air and sponsored a radio collar

A huge thank you to all of our Channel Island Fox Heroes. This year you helped the endangered island fox move ever closer to recovery. (Current Population Update)

Island fox pairs are coming together across the islands. Follow Tani, the young female island fox, on twitter or facebook as she settles into her own territory and finds a mate.

Island Foxes Say Thank You

Across the Channel Islands endangered island foxes are successfully making a come back from the brink of extinction. You and your friends and neighbors are helping to make a positive difference. Friends of the Island Fox extends our thanks to the following special friends that have made extra efforts on behalf of endangered island foxes.


This summer Native Foods Cafe raised funds for the island fox during a day of business. Their event raised $500 for island fox conservation.


In May, Island Fox Program Director Pat Meyer and Keri Dearborn, Education Director, were interviewed on Cynthia Fox's Sunday morning show "Spotlight on the Community" on KLOS Radio. Listen to the Interview. Cynthia Fox continued her support by sponsoring a fox radio-tracking collar.


This summer private donors supported another radio-tracking collar to bring our total number of collars funded to 72!


Because of your support and concern this local endangered species is recovering. Your involvement on behalf of the island fox is allowing images like the one below to be natural once again. Watch as an island fox ventures into a bald eagle nest at night looking for tidbits of food that the bald eagle chick has dropped. This is a brave little island fox, notice the bald eagle chick (bigger than the island fox) sleeping in the lower right corner. 



Island foxes across the Channel Islands thank all of you who care and are taking action to support health checks and vaccinations, radio collars and education to make a positive difference on their behalf.

Island Fox on the Radio

photo courtesy of Paul Bronstein

Pat Meyer and Keri Dearborn from Friends of the Island Fox recently did an interview with KLOS Radio personality Cynthia Fox.

Cynthia Fox hosts "Spotlight on the Community" Sunday mornings on KLOS. Listen in for great mix of rock music and community involvement.


Listen to the podcast of the interview via the links below:
Part 1 - How the Island Fox became an Endangered Species

Part 2 - Where do Island Foxes Live ? and Recovery Efforts
Part 3 - Restoring Natural Balance to CA Channel Islands
Part 4 - Education Outreach Programs for Schools and Community Groups

Each segment is approximately 10 minutes.

Friends of the Island Fox thanks Cynthia Fox and KLOS for shining a Spotlight on the endangered island fox. 

The Island Fox and the IUCN

photo courtesy of Kevin Schafer

The island fox has an important friend – the IUCN.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) was established in England in 1948 to promote scientifically based conservation efforts on behalf of wild species. The IUCN has a Red List of species around the world that are threatened and specific categories for their survival status: Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, or Least Concern.

The IUCN has joined with an established fox friend ARKive.org to highlight “Amazing Species” on the IUCN’s Red List website. See more island fox images on ARKive.org.

Recently the island fox was featured as one of these “Amazing Species” - IUCN RedList Amazing Species. The downloadable pdf on the island fox features a photo by another island fox friend, wildlife photographer Kevin Schafer (kevinschafer.com)

island fox photos by Kevin Schafer:

• island foxes investigating wood
• pair of island foxes
• island fox sitting 
  
• island fox with radio collar

The IUCN lists the island fox as critically endangered. Despite increases in population over the last three years, island foxes have a very limited range and are extremely vulnerable to habitat destruction or introduced disease.

Island species in general are highly vulnerable to extinction because they have limited natural populations and home ranges. Typically island species can not relocate in the face of environmental change. Climate change poses specific threats to island species: rising water levels, changes in temperature and rainfall, fire as a result of drought (fire on Catalina Island), heightened disease threats from insect- or virus-borne pathogens.

How can you help the island fox and other endangered species? Pass on information about these creatures and remind people that saving resources and reducing our carbon footprint helps everyone.