Everything You Wanted to Know About Island Fox Pups

island fox pup, courtesy of I. Rose

Across the Channel Islands, island fox parents are finding hidden-away spots for a den where females can give birth to pups. Most island fox pups are born in April.

How big are island fox pups at birth? Small - about the size and weight of two AA batteries.

What do you call baby island foxes? Pups or kits. At birth their natal fur is a cocoa brown and their ears appear small and rounded. The pup pictured was born at a zoo in 2006–at that time there was a small breeding population in a few zoos. Island fox dens are not disturbed in the wild.

When do pups emerge from the den? Typically in June. When pups come out into the world they have replaced their baby fur with a coat that looks like their parents. Island fox fur

How many pups are in a litter? Typically, 2–3 pups are born in a litter. Play between siblings is an important part of learning to hunt and interact socially. If food resources are abundant, an island fox pair can have up to 5 pups. In years of drought, few pups are born. Drought year, 2021

What sounds do pups make? LISTEN to the sounds of a young island fox pup.

What do they eat? Like all mammals, island fox pups initially nurse milk from their mother. Gradually, they eat prey brought to them by both of their parents. The parent above is bringing 3 island deer mice back to the den. Both parents teach the pups to hunt and find plant foods. Island fox diet

Are island foxes born knowing how to hunt and find food? No. All of the island foxes currently in captivity were pups that were separated from their parents and did not learn how to provide for themselves in the wild. Island fox pups need their parents to teach them how to hunt and find food.

Video - Island fox pup reunited with mother
 

Island Fox Pups

Across the Channel Islands, island fox pups are being born. For their first months of life they look more like little brown bears than their dramatically marked parents. 

Typically, island foxes become parents in their second year, but sometimes a male or female may become a first-time parent before they are a year old.


Most island fox pairs have 2-3 pups in a litter, but a young female like our Twitter fox, Tani, might have only one pup. 


This year rainfall on the Channel Islands has been low to normal. Weather can also affect the number of pups born because rainfall can impact food resources. Annual rainfall.

island fox bringing 3 deer mice home for family, photo courtesy NPS

While female island foxes are in their dens with their new born pups, the fathers play the role of providers, bringing food to their mate and eventually the pups. 


Over the last year Friends of the Island Fox has followed Tani, an island fox character, as she grew up and became a mother herself. Join us as we follow Tani's mate, Tiptu, and get a male fox's perspective over the next few months on Twitter and Facebook. Tiptu, is "big ears" in Chumash, the local native American language. Tiptu has befriended another rare animal only found on the Channel Islands - an island scrub-jay. 


Island scrub-jays have a family structure similar to the island fox, so Jay will have insight to help his friend the island fox through his first year as a father. The island scrub-jays are nesting as well. Spring brings all kinds of new life to the Channel Islands.

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.

Island Fox Pups Grow Up

courtesy of NPS volunteer Inge Rose

During the warm days of summer, island fox pups grow up fast. Through rough and tumble play with their siblings, they learn to stalk and pounce. Small paws pin a sister or brother to the ground. They practice grabbing hold with their sharp little teeth and shaking. All of these behaviors are important skills for hunting.

Stalking and pouncing are the actions used by island foxes to catch island deer mice, birds, lizards and snakes, and even some insects, like grasshoppers. Island fox catches a snake.


Digging with agile, clawed paws enables island foxes to catch Jerusalem crickets and beetles. Insects are probably the first prey that most island fox pups hunt on their own. (See the Twitter adventures of Tani, a young island fox grows up, in the right side panel.)


Both parents help to teach the island fox pups where and how to find the variety of food they will need to survive on the rugged Channel Islands. As summer continues, fruit will ripen on a variety of native plants, bringing new food opportunities to the growing island foxes.

Link to a video of island fox pups on Catalina Island sent to FIF by an island fox friend. Watch for the three pups, just like in Tani's family.

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.

Island Fox Born at Santa Barbara Zoo

(photo courtesy of Santa Barbara Zoo)

Spring is pupping season for the endangered Channel island foxes and each birth is a celebration. While we are waiting to hear how many pups were born out on the islands, the Santa Barbara Zoo happily announced the birth of a new island fox.

The male pup was born April 12, 2007, to a pair of older parents from San Clemente Island. The mother was unable to nurse the tiny pup and therefore it is being handreared by the Santa Barbara Zoo staff.

Fitting in the palm of your hand, the pup weighed only two ounces at birth–less than 2 AA batteries. Staff members attended to feedings six times a day, 24 hours a day, and the pup quickly doubled its weight.

As of Thursday June 7, the latest update is...

“It seemed like he was perhaps premature when he was born and a bit undersized. But within a month or so, he caught up to where he needed to be. He now weighs 1.4 pounds. He still gets two bottles of formula a day but has teeth and is eating solids. He receives our omnivore diet, like the other Island foxes we have, which is a canine mix, sort of like dog chow. We supplement that with small chunks of various vegetables and with baby food (chicken and rice, vegetables with turkey, turkey dinner). We are happy that he’s doing so well and heading towards normal development. We will soon start giving him some time and exposure with our male fox whose mate died recently. Hopefully, they can be companions.”

Currently this brings the total number of island foxes in Zoos to 12. Where can you visit a zoo with island foxes.

Alan Varsik, Director of Animal Programs and Conservation at the Santa Barbara Zoo and FIF board member, adds “The birth of this pup will further enhance our ability to continue to tell the conservation story of the island fox and the unique and special habitat that it lives in.”

Captive breeding has played an important role is reestablishing island fox populations. What is captive breeding? Animal management protocol developed at the Santa Barbara Zoo and other zoo facilities has helped provide valuable information on how to keep island foxes safe and healthy in captive environments.

Working together zoos and conservation land managers are saving this endangered species. Friends of the Island Fox supports their efforts and works with them to educate the public about the island fox and its unique habitat, the Channel Islands.