Vaccinating Island Foxes Takes a Community

 $15,322 of vaccine is headed into the field to protect island foxes!

Donors like you made this possible! 

courtesy M. Navarro, NPS

Why do island foxes need to be vaccinated annually?

Canine distemper virus (CDV) caused a catastrophic decline of Santa Catalina Island foxes 26 years ago. Evolving in isolation on their islands, island foxes haven't developed immunity to typical canine diseases. To protect populations, each year at least 100 island foxes are vaccinated on each island against this deadly dog disease and rabies. On Catalina the goal is to vaccinate 350 island foxes, because the threat of introduced disease is so much higher for this population.

Island foxes are so susceptible to CDV that they can not tolerate the vaccine commonly given to dogs. They must be vaccinated with a special dead-virus vaccine that is produced in small batches and only provides protection for less than a year.

That means island foxes need to be vaccinated annually and the effort is one of the more expensive measures taken to protect their health each year.

This year's 650 vaccinations were supported by:

• Island Fox Ambassador Schools & Projects
• Local organizations 
• Recycling 4 Island Foxes & the Planet
• USU Recycles 4 Island Foxes
• 2024 FIF Island Trip participants 
• Private donors
• a grant from the Fresno Chaffee Zoo Wildlife Conservation Fund

How do you vaccinate an island fox? 

Fox Foto Friday - Keeping Vaccines Cool

How are colorful cooler bags and ice packs helping island foxes?

 

Biologists at Channel Islands National Park will soon be heading out into the field to count island foxes and provide health checks. Part of that effort includes vaccinating island foxes and taking blood samples.

 

 

Vaccines need to be kept cool going out into the field and biological samples need to be kept cool coming back.

To maintain biosecurity for each island and reduce the opportunity for insects, viruses, parasites, or plant seeds to hitch a ride and move from one island to another, FIF has supplied the biologists with two cooler sets per island. Cooler packs dedicated to use on a specific island will help keep island foxes safe.

 

$1,036 of rabies vaccine is on its way to four islands for 650 island foxes. 

Your donations help protect island foxes.

Help FIF raise the additional $7,000 to pay for this year's canine distemper vaccine.

Foxes For Foxes

The Fort Collins, CO Foxes baseball team has been raising awareness about island foxes since 2012.

When the team takes to the field on June 25, 2021 against the Rough Riders, as part of the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League, $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to Friends of the Island Fox to support island fox conservation.

There will be a Free Give-Away - Download the Flyer

Go Foxes! 

Have a great season and let's vaccinate some island foxes!

$20 vaccinates an island fox against deadly canine distemper virus and rabies.

Island foxes are good runners. They could run the bases faster than a human, but they might bite the baseball. 

Your club or organization can help island foxes too! 

Contact Pat Meyer at pat@islandfox.org 

What Do Island-Fox Biologists Do?

Each autumn, field biologists work hard and long hours checking the status of Channel Island foxes. What do island-fox biologists do during the course of an autumn day?

Here are excerpts from some personal accounts from Santa Barbara Zoo Animal Care staff who elected to spend a week providing 64 volunteer hours assisting National Park Service biologists in Channel Islands National Park.

Scott Daugherty (on San Miguel Island):
Our job was to place radio tracking collars on some foxes and collect biological data, so the Park Service could get an accurate count of how many foxes were on the island, and could make observations about how well the whole population was surviving. This is all accomplished by dedicated individuals, trained to trap and handle the endangered foxes safely...

capture cage hidden under a shrub

One thing that I didn’t realize before actually getting out to the island was just how much work it is to participate in these kinds of studies. Just getting to the traps was almost half an hour of hard hiking, and the traps themselves were set 250 meters apart, making each day a minimum of 5 miles of tough terrain, nearly all of it off trail. Each morning, we would get up before sunrise, and hike out to our trapping grid by first light. Each of our 18 traps needed to be checked and reset, and most foxes that were caught needed to get a full work up...

The conditions on San Miguel can be harsh, with regular winds gusting at 30 mph, and the temperature fluctuating from a warm 75˚F during the day to close to freezing over night. Like the California condor, the Channel Island fox recovery is one of the great successes of conservation study and education, and I am extremely proud to be able to participate.

photo courtesy of NPS

Damian Lechner (on Santa Rosa Island):
In September, I went out to Santa Rosa Island to meet up with Angela from the National Park Service.  We set up 3 grids of traps, each consisting of 12 traps. ....  I was shown how to handle the Foxes and [spotted] Skunks that we trapped, check for parasites, record broken teeth, vaccinate the foxes, micro chip, collect blood and urine samples, collect weights, and take whisker samples. 

island fox having teeth checked; photo courtesy of CIC

(To minimize stress to these wild animals, the goal is to complete all data collection and health maintenance tasks in 12 minutes or less.)

After arriving back at the cabin around noon, we processed the blood and urine that we collected and restocked our kits for the following day.  We continued this for the rest of the week then we collected the traps and hiked out with them on our backpacks.  I learned a lot that week, helped to save Island Species and hiked countless miles.  I’m very appreciative for the opportunity given to me to contribute to this project and hope to go out to the Island again next year.

A huge Thank You to the island-fox Field Biologists for all they do on behalf of Channel Island foxes. Vaccinating island foxes against canine distemper and rabies is vital to their future survival. You can help this effort. FIF is trying to raise funds to protect 500 island foxes.

Our thanks also to the Santa Barbara Zoo and their Animal Care staff who care for Channel Island foxes on the mainland and put in countless volunteer hours to assist the National Park. Thank you also to the Santa Barbara Zoo for sharing the personal accounts of their staff.
 

Protecting Channel Island Foxes Against Distemper Virus

Biosecurity–the threat of introduced disease and non-native species–has become a major issue in the recovery of the Channel Island fox. 

See 2015 Island Fox Status Report

Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) nearly caused the extinction of the Santa Catalina Island fox. Island foxes were vaccinated against this virulent disease until 2012, when a vaccine safe for this rare species became unavailable. 

A newly available vaccine has been found safe for island foxes. Since June, it has been verified on 30 monitored wild island foxes and the few island foxes in captivity.

Friends of the Island Fox 

hopes to raise $5,000 

to vaccinate 

500 island foxes against Canine Distemper

Wild Channel Island fox having blood drawn during health check.

Biologists are in the field right NOW providing health checks and counting island foxes. The lower price of the new CDV vaccine means that: 

a $10 donation 

will vaccinate an island fox against 

BOTH Canine Distemper and Rabies

in 2015

Twice the protection for $10.

We already have raised $2,800, over half the funds needed. 

Each island fox protected helps secure the population's continuation even in the face of introduced epidemic disease.

Won't you please help in this vital effort to preserve the historic recovery of the endangered Channel Island fox? 

Foxy Ladies Help Island Foxes

Why is that Channel Island fox in a cage?

Each year in late summer / early autumn, island foxes are caught in safe capture cages so that their numbers can be counted. This also allows the biologists on the six islands, where the island foxes live, to check the health of individual foxes, replace old radio tracking collars and to vaccinate the island foxes against disease.

Canine distemper virus and rabies pose a serious threat to the endangered Channel Island fox. Distemper virus nearly caused the extinction of the Santa Catalina Island fox between 1994 and 2000. The population crashed from 1,342 individuals to 165.

The four endangered subspecies of island foxes on San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands are successfully recovering and the job of protecting them from disease is a priority. Island foxes have territories that overlap. Recent studies modeling how distemper travels through island fox populations conclude that the best way to protect a viable percentage of island foxes in the event of distemper introduction is to vaccinate a minimum of 100 individuals. And since the vaccine’s protection against the disease only lasts one year, a minimum of 100 island foxes need to be vaccinated on each island annually.

This year Friends of the Island Fox set a goal of raising $2,000 to fund canine distemper vaccinations for 100 foxes on two of the four islands where they are an endangered species. ($10 vaccinates an island fox against canine distemper)

Rita Mays (left) and some of the El Segundo Ladies Golf Club's Foxy Ladies

In August 2012 The Foxy Ladies, the women of the El Segundo Ladies Golf Club, took a big swing at our goal. They held a Golf Tournament to raise funds for island fox vaccinations and they raised $1,600!

Thanks to Rita Mays, the tournament organizer, and her golf-playing Foxy Ladies, 160 island foxes will be protected from canine distemper this year.

From golf tournaments to baseball games, to island trips, to lifelong learning programs for Road Scholar, our summer drive has surpassed our goal!

You helped us raise $2,960 for vaccinations ! 

Every $10 raised helps to protect an endangered island fox from this very contagious disease. This will protect 296 foxes. 

Can we make it 400? 

A 100 island foxes vaccinated on four islands? You can help make a difference by donating too.

Annual trapping is happening across the Channel Islands. Follow the story of island foxes Tani and Tiptu, and their pup Meymey, on Twitter and Facebook as they experience fall trapping and health checks.

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 Foxes Face Off Disease

Tani represents all of the juvenile island foxes that were born this spring (A special Island fox is Born).  As summer turns to autumn these young island foxes will venture off from their parents to begin their own lives. But before they do, they just might have a close encounter of the human kind.

Across the California Channel Islands biologists are catching island foxes in capture cages to count their numbers, replace and outfit radio tracking collars, and conduct annual health checks.

For young island foxes that means a microchip that will identify them for life. It may also mean vaccinations for canine diseases - rabies and distemper. Both of these diseases have a high mortality rate, meaning that most wild island foxes would die if they encountered them. We know this is true because the Santa Catalina Island population of island foxes declined by over 88% between 1998 and 2000 when distemper was introduced to the island. (More about Catalina Island).

Pet dogs and cats that have not been vaccinated can introduce disease to wild populations. Island species like the island fox are especially vulnerable because they have not evolved with the same diseases that animals may be exposed to on the mainland. Wild animals from the mainland can also introduce disease to island populations (see Raccoon on Catalina).

The land managers across the islands hope to vaccinate at least 60-80 island foxes on each island this autumn. The minimum (60 foxes on 6 islands) would be a total of 360 island foxes with a cost of $10 per fox. Just providing minimal disease protection to this endangered species comes with a minimum cost of $3,600. 

You can help provide a young island fox heading out into the world with a better chance of survival by supporting vaccination costs. A donation of $10 will protect an island fox from rabies and distemper. 

You can also make a positive difference by reminding friends and family that vaccinating pet dogs and cats helps protect wild animals. Disease has no sympathy, it can attack an endangered species or a beloved pet. To keep both safe, pets should stay home and leave wild animals to live in their native habitats.


See more of Tani's adventures on Facebook and @ifoxtweet on Twitter.

Give the Gift of Saving a Species

photo courtesy of NPS volunteer Inge Rose

Across San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands, island fox numbers are rising. Populations that hovered just above extinction, with just 15 individual animals, are climbing toward recovery.


This Holiday Season you can give the gift of helping support island fox recovery.

$250 funds a radio-collar for an island fox
To date Friends of the Island Fox has funded 47 radio-tracking collars for monitoring wild island foxes. Radio collars provide important information on island fox welfare, including the first information on threats from disease or golden eagle predation. Radio Collars.

When you sponsor a radio collar you receive information about an individual island fox, its history and current life in the wild. You are actively playing a role in island fox conservation.

$100 supports Friends of the Island Fox education programs in schools
This year alone, FIF provided FREE educational programs to 2,000 students from 3rd grade to college. The next generation is the vital connection to sustaining wild populations of island foxes. FIF in schools. Interaction with students and community.

$50 funds rabies and distemper vaccinations for 5 island foxes
Diseases transmitted from domestic pets or introduced animals pose a serious threat to island foxes. Each year island foxes are given Health Checks. In order to maintain viable populations in the face of another disease outbreak, 80 - 100 island foxes need to be vaccinated on all 6 islands.

You can play an active role in island fox recovery by donating to Friends of the Island Fox. Give a gift that makes a difference and helps to save the endangered island fox.

More on why the island fox is endangered.