You Can Help Island Foxes with Radio Collars

These island fox radio collars have gone to the shop to be refurbished. They have been chewed on, rubbed on rocks, and used as teething bars by island fox pups. But, with your help these collars can be repaired and used to help island foxes, again.

Radio-tracking collars protect whole islands of island foxes.

Radio-tracking collars can also be used for specific situations:

• helping to reunite a lost pup with its parents
• following an island fox rehabilitating from wildfire injuries
• monitoring an island fox recovering from a serious injury

Which foxes wear radio-tracking collars?
 
Soon the radio collars above will be renewed and ready for the field. Before they can start making a difference, Friends of the Island Fox needs to pay for them. 

Refurbishing these 20 radio collars costs over $4,000

Your donation can help put these radio collars back on a wild island fox. 

Please DONATE TODAY 

to help monitor island foxes all year long.

Island Fox M152 Gets a Radio Collar!

photo courtesy of CINP / NPS

Meet M152! 

This male island fox just got a radio collar funded by donations to Friends of the Island Fox.

Do you see it? 

It's that bit of black just under his chin and above the biologist's gloved hand.

This radio collar will allow biologists to monitor M152 without interfering with his normal wild life. He can be checked-on from a distance by a technician with an antennae and receiver or even from a small plane flying over the island. 

Refurbished radio collars - headed to island foxes

M152's radio-tracking collar emits a unique radio-signal frequency just for him. 

Hear - Normal radio collar

His collar locates his position and reports that he is moving around normally. If M152 should stop moving for 4-6 hours–not move at all–the radio collar will give off a different signal. Hear - Distress alert from radio collar The rapid beep alerts biologists that something might have happened to him. The radio collar then enables biologists to hone in on the little fox body so they can find out what has happened.

M152's newly refurbished radio collar will provide information on his activity for the next 2-3 years.

Radio-tracking collars are vitally important to monitoring island fox populations across the islands. In 2018, donors like you helped Friends of the Island Fox fund a record 25 radio collars:

• 20 refurbished radio collars - $220 each
• 5 new radio collars - $350 each

On each island approximately 20 radio collars need to be refurbished or purchased new each year. 

In 2019 FIF's GOAL is to refurbish 20-30 radio collars 

and purchase 10 new collars

Won't you help with this vital effort to monitor island foxes! 

You've helped us save island foxes from extinction. 

Please donate to help keep island foxes safe and healthy.

Stay tuned. M152 also got a health check. 

Find out what we learned about him. 

 

What Has Arrived at Channel Islands National Park?

 Radio collars!

Five new radio collars

still in the wrapper

and 

Six refurbished radio collars

all rebuilt and ready to go back on island foxes!

...have arrived at Channel Islands National Park. These radio-telemetry collars will be fitted on island foxes in the next few months as biological technicians count island foxes and check their health.

Your donations funded these radio collars!

Look closely, this island fox is wearing a radio collar

Foxes with worn collars will be giving them up for refurbishing or new batteries. You have funded fourteen more of these collars to go from the field to the workshop for refitting. More on Refurbished Radio Collars

Radio collars offer a frontline of defense for monitoring and protecting island foxes.

Recycling Island Fox Radio Collars

What can you do with a radio-tracking collar that looks like this?

Recycle it!

Across the Channel Islands, a select number of island foxes wear radio-tracking collars. See more about sentinel foxes. But radio collars have a limited lifespan. Their batteries last up to 36 months, then they need to be replaced. Refitting batteries, however, isn't like put new batteries in a flashlight. The waterproof and fox-proof casing has to be removed and refurbished in a workshop.

Friends of the Island Fox is happy to announce that our February fundraiser more than met our goal to fund the recycling of radio collars for Channel Islands National Park. 

Thanks to your donations 

FIF is refurbishing all 20 of the radio collars 

that CINP planned to recycle in 2018

"The collars will get new antennas, new casings, new batteries, new bands, and/or any other new parts that may be necessary," says Laura Shaskey, Wildlife Biologist at Channel Islands National Park. "They will be completely rebuilt, however intact components will be re-used. As you can see the previously used collars are in very poor shape, chewed up, and are often missing antenna."

courtesy of K. Schafer

Another important benefit of recycling radio collars is the reusing of established bandwidths of radio frequency. In our high-tech wireless world, more and more radio frequencies are being gobbled up for human devices. Fewer radio frequencies are available for wildlife tracking equipment. Recycling collars and reusing pre-established radio-collar frequencies is a smart use of physical and audio resources.

As Shaskey points out, "Refurbishing collars is an efficient cost-effective method to replace collars, so they are as good as new for monitoring another fox for the next three years."


Because recycling a radio collar costs less, FIF was also able to purchase 5 new radio collars for use in Channel Islands National Park.

25 radio tracking collars that will be placed on island foxes 

this season because of your donations!

"Thanks again for all your support with collar purchases this year! It is a great help!" - Laura Shaskey