FIF Funds Important Health Investigations for Island Foxes

Why are these biologists smiling? Because you are helping island foxes.

Mike Watling (FIF) presents funds to Lara Brenner (CIC) and Laura Shaskey (CINP)

At the annual meeting of the Island Fox Conservation Working Group, Mike Watling, a member of the Friends of the Island Fox Advisory Committee, presented FIF donations to support important investigations into the health of island foxes.

$3,000 to the Fox Program at Catalina Island Conservancy

tick attached to fox lower eyelid

This funding will test a second year of tick samples to determine the threat to island foxes from Lyme disease introduced to several islands in 2018. More on tick-borne disease testing. 

It also represents support from a Fresno Chaffee Zoo Wildlife Conservation grant that will analyze blood samples from island foxes on Catalina for signs of introduced disease. Once again a stow-away raccoon was recently stopped before hopping from a private boat to Catalina Island. Introduction of new diseases via pets and transported wildlife continue to be a problem for all islands, but especially Catalina. In 2018, blood samples revealed for the first time that a small number of Catalina Island foxes were exposed to a form of canine herpes virus. This important testing also detected exposure to a common dog illness, Coronavirus. 30% of the tested island foxes had been exposed to Coronavirus. Fortunately, no island foxes are known to have died from this disease.

$2,000 to the Fox Program at Channel Islands National Park
Intestinal parasites are causing early deaths among island foxes on San Miguel Island. This funding is part of a multi-pronged investigation to understand why and how new parasites are plaguing foxes on this island and why well-known parasites are causing greater impacts on San Miguel Island foxes. (see other ways FIF is helping this investigation)  

When you donate to FIF 

your donations go right to work helping island foxes.

  

Make the Island Fox Your Sweetheart

This Valentine's Day

Won't you share your passion?

February through April, island fox pups will be born across the Channel Islands. Help give the 2018 pups the best chance of survival by supporting two important conservation projects.

Recycled radio-tracking collars: 
Good for foxes and the environment
Pups on San Miguel Island face serious challenges like drought and climate change. Young foxes are struggling to survive and adults are threatened by new parasites.

island fox with radio collar

You can help National Park biologists better protect the foxes by donating toward a radio-tracking collar. Radio collars help biologists respond quickly when foxes are in danger. By refurbishing previously used collars, we're also reducing costs for foxes and the environment. Each refurbished collar costs $220, a 33% savings over typical radio collar costs and keeps a used collar out of landfills.

This Valentine's Day, FIF has our hearts set on funding 15 radio collars!

Slow Down for Foxes!

Island foxes on Catalina face another serious danger: automobiles. One of the ways to alert drivers to the dangers of speeding in fox territory is through electronic signs that tell drivers they are going too fast. These signs have been shown to slow down traffic and reduce fox injuries and death.

A critical sign on Catalina needs replacing. For $3,000, we can repair the sign and put it back in service, saving more fox lives.

Two Ways to Share Your Passion

Donate Today

or by mail:
Friends of the Island Fox: 2390 C Las Posas Road, Suite #120, Camarillo CA 93010

Help create a better future for island foxes!

Channel Island Fox Update 2016

photo courtesy of Anita Machlis

The annual meeting of the Island Fox Conservation Working Group in 2016 reported that the general status of five subspecies of California's Channel Island foxes is GOOD and STABLE. Concern for the San Nicolas Island fox continues.

2016 was a busy year for island foxes. Three subspecies were removed from the Endangered Species list and one was downlisted to Threatened status. The following update includes the population numbers from fall of 2015. (Land managers are currently compiling the fall 2016 data to present their official 2016 population numbers at the Annual Meeting in May 2017.)

San Nicolas Island

Drought impacts were a major concern in 2015-2016, however island foxes on San Miguel and San Nicolas Islands were more severely impacted. These two islands have the least amount of native plant diversity, leaving the highly omnivorous island foxes more dependent on introduced ice plant and the introduced snails and earwigs that live within it. (Island fox diet study) Continued years of drought dramatically reduced introduced species, greatly impacting the island foxes on these two islands. The situation on San Miguel and San Nicolas Islands, however, continue to be different from each other. This is the challenge of protecting island foxes.

photo courtesy of Paul Bronstein

Island Fox Update 2016 a specific island-by-island summary pdf

• San Miguel Island ~ 382 foxes (low of 15 in the year 2000). Population numbers were revised in late 2016 going back to 2008. The population has recovered from extinction threat and slightly increased in number from 2014. Concern: Drought impact on food resources and increase in life-threatening parasites. (see Island Fox Update 2016 above)
• Santa Rosa Island ~ 1,256 foxes (low of 15 in the year 2000). The population has recovered from extinction threat and, despite the drought, continues to thrive and increase. Concern: An unusual and fatal parasite, Leptospira, may have been introduced via sea lions. Further investigation is needed to determine the extent of threat to island foxes. 
  (see Island Fox Update 2016 above)
• Santa Cruz Island ~ 2,170 foxes (low of ~ 80 in the year 2002). The population has recovered from extinction threat and is very robust. The increased number of older animals in the population combined with carrying capacity and drought may have caused a drop from the 2014 population high of ~ 2,700. Plant diversity on this island provides island foxes with diverse resources and drought has not been a threat. Concern: Golden eagle predation occurred again in 2016, but was limited. Biosecurity–introduced disease–remains a threat.

  

  native plant restoration efforts in 2016 on Santa Cruz Island

• Santa Catalina Island ~ 1,812 foxes (low of ~ 103 in the year 2000).
  The population has recovered from extinction threat, but continued threats connected with large numbers of people visiting the island prompted the USFWS to maintain a Threatened status for this island fox subspecies. Concern: Biosecurity–introduced disease–poses a constant threat to Santa Catalina Island. Serology testing is an especially important conservation effort looking for early evidence of disease introduction. Even human trash poses threats to these island foxes. 

  

  photo courtesy of Melissa Baffa
  

   
• San Clemente Island ~ 888 foxes (Not Endangered; adults only). Island foxes remain robust on this island, though the drought may have depressed survival in 2015. Concern: Island fox survival may have decreased in areas with less native plant diversity and therefore fewer food resources. The Navy has begun native plant restoration projects, but the effort is still in the early stages. The rainy season of 2016 may have positively impacted this effort. Island fox pups, abandoned by parents on this island, are the few individuals currently found in California zoos.
• San Nicolas Island ~ 260 foxes (Not Endangered; adults only). In 2012, San Nicolas Island had the greatest density of foxes anywhere in the world and a population estimated at over 600 individuals. Since that year the population has declined and stabilized at ~ 250 individuals. Concern: The native plant diversity of this island was severely impacted in the last century. San Nicolas has the least biodiversity of native plant species. Island foxes became dependent on introduced plant species that died off during the years of consecutive drought. Island foxes have shown signs of emaciation and severe parasite infestation, either or both of these impacts may be a cause for decline. More on drought impacts as reported in 2016. The Navy has begun native plant restoration projects and the rainy season of 2016 may have positively impacted this effort. 
 

In addition to drought and disease impacts, there are concerns regarding the lack of genetic diversity in the San Nicolas Island fox population. To-date there is no evidence that the San Nicolas population suffers from genetic anomalies that could negatively impact their reproduction or survival. However a lack of genetic diversity can also impact how a species or subspecies is able to respond to disease challenges. Genetics and Disease Immunity Research. 

Everyone is watching the San Nicolas Island fox population and trying to establish why they have declined and whether or not their numbers improved in 2016. 

Keep informed of the status of the San Nicolas Island fox by subscribing to the FIF bimonthly newsletter SUBSCRIBE

Ear Tumors Decreased in Catalina Island Foxes

The good news keeps coming for Channel Island foxes. Research published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE highlights the successful treatment of a serious cancer threat in the Santa Catalina Island fox.

Catalina Island foxes suffered a catastrophic decline following the introduction of Canine Distemper Virus in the late 1990s. As their population began to recover a new challenge threatened their survival: cancer. Fatal cancerous tumors, which developed in the ear canal, were discovered in a high percentage of the small surviving Catalina population.

FIF first reported on this threat in 2006 and 2007 (mysterious cancer). A new research paper details that between 2001 and 2008 nearly half of all adult Catalina Island foxes were found to have nodule-like tumors present in their ear canals and approximately two-thirds of these tumors were cancerous.

In the search to unravel the cause, it was discovered that nearly all island foxes with the tumors were also infected with ear mites. Veterinarians from UC Davis and biologists with the Catalina Island Conservancy and the Institute for Wildlife Studies hypothesized that treating the ear mites might reduce the irritation in infested foxes and therefore reduce inflammation. If the ear mites could be controlled or eliminated perhaps the progression to disease could be reduced.

Catalina Island fox receiving health check

Data collected during annual island fox counting and health checks determined the prevalence of the cancer (Ceruminous gland carcinoma) in the wild population. Such detailed disease analysis in wild animals is rarely possible. Once the prevalence of the disease was known throughout the population, a study protocol was implemented in 2009. During annual health checks randomly selected wild island foxes were treated with a topical medication to kill ear mites. Six months later treated and untreated individuals were reevaluated. ID microchips used on Channel Island foxes enabled biologists to accurately follow individual animals.

photo courtesy of M. Baffa

As the treatment study recounts, ear mite infection declined dramatically in treated wild island foxes. Continued annual treatment resulted in a reduction in ear canal irritation and decline in cancerous tumors. Not only did infected individual island foxes benefit, but transmission of ear mites to the next generation was dramatically reduced. Before the treatment study, nearly 90% of Catalina Island fox pups handled by biologists were found to carry ear mites transferred to them from their parents. 2015 health checks documented only 15% of the year's pups carried ear mites.

Breaking the cycle of ear mite infestation, irritation, cancer, and transmission to other foxes is good news for Catalina Island foxes.  It is also an example of the interconnection between various island fox conservation efforts. Annual monitoring and health checks, ID microchips, various conservation entities working together, these are all pieces of successful island fox recovery.

Why this subspecies of island fox is prone to cancerous ear tumors when foxes on other islands are not, remains unknown. Further research and genetic studies may offer new insight.

Read the Full Papers:
Prevalence of the disease: 
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0143211

Controlling the disease risk factors:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144271      

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? 

Double Action to Save Catalina Island Foxes

Help Friends of the Island Fox reduce a major threat to the Santa Catalina Island fox (Urocyon littoralis catalinae): human trash. 

Yes, eating human food is bad for island foxes. Adults dependent on human food fail to teach hunting skills to their offspring. (Island fox diet) However, the greater threat is the attraction of trash and the behavior island foxes engage in to reach readily available human food waste.

The first problem is that standard trash and recycling containers pose a threat to these small foxes. This old trash can, next to a fence, allows an island fox to easily climb inside. The fox's diminutive size means it can easily fit through openings and fall into trash receptacles. 

Aging bins are an enticing hazard.

photo courtesy of Lesly Lieberman and CIC

Once inside, island foxes have a difficult time getting out of these containers. Trash can lids are designed to push open from the outside. Catalina Island biologists have documented numerous cases of island foxes dying inside trash cans.

 

photo courtesy of Julie King, CIC

The second issue is that accessible trash cans encourage island foxes to cross roads and enter dangerous areas. Notice the island fox under the left side of the trash can pictured here. It is pulling trash out of the rusted bottom of this can. 

Catalina Island Conservancy biologists Julie King and Calvin Duncan report: 

Between April and May 2014, four foxes were hit and killed by vehicles in close proximity to open trash cans near Bird Park in Avalon and two more were hit and killed there in November. It is unknown how many other foxes may have been hit by vehicles in the area but did not immediately succumb to their injuries, and were therefore not accounted for.

courtesy of Julie King, CIC

Car strike has become the greatest killer of island foxes on Catalina Island. The island fox pictured to the right was killed by a car, notice the trash can on the other side of the road (to the left). Clusters of unnecessary island fox deaths are occurring in areas adjacent to public spaces with numerous trash cans.

New "Fox Saver" trash bins

But there is a solution to the double threat: trash bins that island foxes can not access.

“Fox Saver” bins are the same sturdy containers used at Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks to keep bears out of human trash. Opening the bin requires long human fingers. There is no opening for an island fox to easily enter.

Once the attraction of available human food waste is eliminated, we hope there will be less motivation for island foxes to cross roads, and maybe less attraction to venture into Avalon.

Purchasing these all-steel bins, shipping them to Santa Catalina Island, and installing them on a cement pad comes with a sizable price tag. Each bin costs $2,000. The Catalina Island Conservancy has a goal of replacing 150 trash bins across the island.

Friends of the Island Fox aims to raise $6,000 to fund three “Fox-Saver” bins to be placed in Avalon's Bird Park area. This should actively reduce island fox deaths along one of Santa Catalina's busiest roads. Your donation will help meet this goal and save island fox lives.

The Catalina Island fox is making a strong recovery, but its current restored population combined with growing human activity  has increased direct human threats to island fox survival. 

Help us make a positive impact by funding 
"Fox Saver" bins!

Give the Gift of Saving Island Foxes

Since 2005, you have helped Friends of the Island Fox fund more than $60,000 in conservation efforts to save the endangered island fox.

In 2014 donors funded our  

113th radio-tracking collar!

In addition, in 2014 FIF:

• Hosted the annual meeting of island fox biologists
• Funded blood tests looking for exposure to disease (serology)
• Supported the purchase of a scientific specimen refrigerator at a lab studying island fox health
• Funded vaccinations for rabies
• And funded identification microchips 

 

In the year 2000, four subspecies of island fox were facing imminent extinction. San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands each only had 15 surviving individual island foxes. On all six islands combined there was a total of approximately 1,400 island foxes. 

In just fourteen years, island fox populations have returned to historic levels. The official population numbers from 2013 estimate over 5,700 island foxes across all of the islands.

Maintaining this successful recovery of the island fox means continued monitoring. Disease and introduced threats can quickly impact these rare island populations.

This holiday season give the gift of directly saving an endangered species.

• $10 microchips an island fox with lifetime identification
• $10 vaccinates an island fox for a year against rabies or distemper
• $25 funds an annual health check
• $100 supports public education and vital research
• $300 sponsors a radio-tracking collar to ensure the safety of island foxes

Donate through the "Island Fox Donation" box on the upper right hand side of the screen (the box with the smiling island fox).

Radio Collars Protect Island Foxes

courtesy of Kevin Schafer

Island foxes are making a strong recovery across the Channel Islands, but the need to monitor their populations continues.
 
This past year, in 2013, three radio-collared island foxes were killed by golden eagle predation. Two foxes were killed by a golden eagle on San Miguel Island and one on Santa Cruz Island. Biologists do not know if the island foxes were killed by the same golden eagle or by two different golden eagles. The distance between the islands can be easily managed by a single large eagle. However, in the past, golden eagles have often preyed on island foxes in a specific area when they have been successful.

As the populations of island foxes have increased, the cost of radio-collaring all adults has become prohibitive. Radio-tracking collars now cost $300 each. A representative number of island foxes are radio-collared on each island–approximately 5% to 11% of individual island foxes on each of the northern islands. 

golden eagle at Denali Nat'l Park, courtesy of NPS

For each radio-collared island fox killed by a golden eagle, there is the possibility of several non-collared foxes being impacted as well. Island foxes are well camouflaged for their habitat. When an island fox without a radio collar is killed by a golden eagle it is difficult to know the incident happened, little alone to find the fox's remains. 

Because radio-tracking collars give off a specific signal when a fox is no longer living, radio collars are vital tools for locating individual island foxes and responding quickly to determine why that animal has died. Island Fox CSI

On Santa Catalina Island this past year biologists were on the look out for stowaway raccoons carrying disease. But in 2013 they encountered a new invader–a northern opossum that hitchhiked on a private boat and made its way onto the island. Introduced animals pose a serious disease threat to island foxes. Canine distemper 

Radio-tracking collars are the island foxes' best defense against unexpected threats. To-date Friends of the Island Fox supporters have funded 96 radio collars. 

The Foxy Ladies of El Segundo Ladies Golf Club

$300 Helps protect island foxes. Who has funded radio-tracking collars? 

• Classes of school children
• Zoo keepers
• Zoo docents from across the country
• A Baseball team
• People giving a radio collar sponsorship in honor of someone special
• And Private individuals Like You

Join with other people to help fund radio collars for island foxes. 

A MicroChip Tells the Story of a Special Island Fox

Burnie Boots in 2008; courtesy CIC

This island fox was born in 2006 and captured as a juvenile her first autumn. She was only six months old when she received her first health check and an identification microchip. A tiny passive electronic identification tag was placed under her skin, between her shoulders. For the rest of her life, biologists would be able to identify her as an individual.

In May of 2007, a human-ignited fire swept over a large swath of Catalina Island. It just happened that our little female island fox had been living in the area that went up in flames. She was the only island fox found severely injured in the 2007 fire. Her fur was singed and her feet were badly burned. The injury to her feet led to the name: “Burnie Boots.” 

Burnie Boots with injuries from the 2007 fire, CIC

In the days immediately following the fire the fox had become dehydrated and malnourished because of her injuries. Over the course of several weeks she was nursed back to health at the Catalina Island Conservancy Foxpital.

Before her release back into the wild, Burnie Boots was fitted with a radio collar funded through Friends of the Island Fox and our first Fox Ambassador School–the girls of Westridge School in Pasadena. The radio collar enabled biologists to follow the little female fox’s movements in the wild and in the fall she was recaptured and found to be fully recovered.

In 2008, at age two and a half, Burnie was captured in the fall island-fox count. Her microchip identified her even though she had few physical signs of her earlier injuries. During her health check biologists recorded that she showed signs of having nursed pups. Conservation efforts had made a difference! Burnie Boots survived because of health treatment. She was tracked with a radio collar and now had successfully helped to increase the population of endangered island foxes on Catalina.

Burnie Boots lived a completely wild life for the next year. When she was recaptured in the fall of 2009, she was in good health and weighed 4.6 lbs. The battery on her radio collar was low and she was doing well. The radio collar was removed.

For the next three seasons, Burnie Boots avoided the fall capture, but she continued to be part of the growing island fox population on Catalina Island.

Then, unexpectedly in June of 2013, the body of a female fox was found by the side of the road near Canyon Lodge in Avalon. The microchip reader quickly read the animal’s microchip and identified her as Burnie Boots. Her injuries suggested that she had been hit by a car. Watch for Foxes signs

At seven years of age, Burnie Boots’ individual story has come to an end. But because of her microchip we know she spent all of her life in a fairly small territory in a canyon behind the town of Avalon. Even after the fire, she stayed in that territory and raised pups in the area. Though she was an aging female, there was evidence Burnie had nursed a litter of pups this year. So while her individual story has ended, Burnie lives on in the DNA she has passed on to several litters of pups. This fall maybe her pups will receive ID microchips and start stories of their own.

Microchips help biologists to better understand island fox behavior. You can play a vital role in helping to save endangered island foxes. 

Help FIF microchip 500 wild island foxes this September
Just $10 microchips an island fox for life. 

Please Donate in the upper right.

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.

Road Signs to Save Island Foxes

courtesy of Kevin Pease

Over the Holiday Season important donations came in to fund three “Watch for Foxes” road signs.  In the past few years cars have become the most common cause of death for island foxes. While the northern islands have few cars operated only by National Park and Nature Conservancy officials, Santa Catalina has a number of roads and a variety of people driving on them. The two Navy islands, San Clemente and San Nicolas, also have roads with fast-moving vehicles.

This autumn several island foxes lost their lives on Santa Catalina Island along the road from the airport into Avalon. These “Watch for Foxes” signs will help remind drivers to slow down and be especially vigilant when driving this section of road.

Because of the island fox’s small size, it can be hard to see before it darts onto a road. The fox’s mottled gray coloring with tinges of russet, provide amazing camouflage in island chaparral and grass.  Especially at twilight, even careful drivers can sometimes accidentally strike an island fox crossing the road. While female island foxes usually stay near their parent’s territory, young males may travel great distances looking for territories of their own. These adventuring teenage boys tend to be inexperienced and many have their lives cut short along dangerous roadsides.

Accidents can happen. Drivers on Santa Catalina, San Nicolas and San Clemente are reminded that it is important to report incidents where island foxes are believed to be hit by cars. Injured animals can not be helped if accidents are not reported and the body of an animal killed by a car may provide important medical information if the carcass is collected in a timely manner.

Hopefully with the new “Watch for Foxes” signs funded by donations to Friends of the Island Fox this Holiday Season, island foxes will be safer along island roads this spring. 

Give a Unique Holiday Gift - Saving an Island Fox

photo courtesy of Kevin Schafer

You can give the gift of saving an endangered species. Donations to Friends of the Island Fox go directly to conservation efforts in the field to continue the successful recovery of island foxes.

The island fox pictured on the ground is wearing a radio tracking collar.  To date members of the community like you have funded 56 radio tracking collars that allow field biologists to track island fox activity and respond quickly when an individual island fox dies. Early response enables scientists to determine the cause of death: golden eagle attack, disease, car strike or something unexpected. The faster biologists can respond to a specific threat, the quicker appropriate action can be taken to protect living island foxes.

Helping island foxes can take many forms:

• $250 funds a radio tracking collar on an individual island fox for one year
• $120 puts a “Watch for Foxes” sign along an area of road where foxes are being hit by cars. This is currently the number one cause of island fox fatality on Santa Catalina, San Clemente and San Nicolas Islands. (Five signs are currently needed on Santa Catalina.)
• $50 provides the necessary testing of a blood sample to determine whether young island foxes are developing immunity to naturally occurring diseases
• $10 vaccinates an island fox against its two greatest threats - rabies and distemper.
• $10 provides for an identification microchip for an individual island fox

General donations to Friends of the Island Fox support our education efforts in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. (Island Fox Ambassador Schools, Island Fox in the Classroom, Community Fox Talk Programs) Long-term population recovery demands that local citizens understand the threats to island foxes and the important role foxes and people play in maintaining a balanced ecosystem on the islands. You can play an active role in the continued success of saving the island fox by donating today.

Friends of the Island Fox Funds Radio Collar #56

August 2010 brings exciting news and support for the island fox.
 

Island Fox Friends from Fresno Chaffee Zoo visit Santa Cruz Island

For the third year in a row the Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s Conservation Committee has awarded a conservation grant to Friends of the Island Fox.

The $1,000.00 grant will fund four radio collars to be worn by endangered island foxes on the northern islands. 

Radio collars provide biologists with information on where island foxes are living  and whether or not they are alive. (See Catalina Island Fire) If an island fox stops moving for 6 hours, the radio collar changes its regular transmission pattern to a “mortality beep.” This allows biologists to recover the body quickly and determine the cause of death (Necropsy).

Island foxes with radio collars provide the first alert that a golden eagle has returned to the Channel Islands, that disease has been introduced, or that some other unnatural situation could be impacting island foxes. See Fire Fox and The Island Fox and the Fishing Hook. This past spring, several island foxes were killed when a golden eagle returned to the island. (Santa Rosa)

With the grant funds provided by the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Friends of the Island Fox has now funded 56 island fox radio collars: 42 for the northern islands in Channel Islands National Park and 14 for the southern island of Santa Catalina.

While island foxes on Santa Rosa Island faced additional challenges this year, populations are successfully recovering on San Miguel, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands.  A major part of that recovery is community involvement. Each island fox wearing a radio collar has a story and many of those stories begin with proactive people.

56 Radio Collars - Each one represents a personal donation, a community group like the Eaton Canyon Nature Center Associates, or the energy and conviction of a Fox Ambassador School.

You too can help save the endangered island fox by supporting conservation efforts and Friends of the Island Fox.

Friends of the Island Fox Funds #50

Today is a Landmark Day.

Friends of the Island Fox is proud to announce the funding of our 50th radio collar!

Despite the difficult economic times, people like you have stepped forward to play an active role in saving the endangered island fox.

Radio collars play an important role in allowing biologists to track fox behavior, monitor fox health and determine threats to fox survival. Radio collar on fire fox

In 2000, four populations of island foxes teetered toward extinction. Why island fox's were endangered

Today, with your help and support, island fox populations are recovering. Current populations

Because island foxes live only on the Channel Islands, like all island species they are small populations that can be quickly impacted by the introduction of disease, ecosystem imbalance and potentially, climate change.

Your support of island fox conservation efforts is vital to the survival of this endangered California species.

As we begin 2010, Friends of the Island Fox thanks all of you for renewing your effort to insure that this keystone species survives into the future.

You can help fund additional radio collars, vaccinations and conservation efforts by CLICKING on the Donate Now buttons at the top of the page.

Island Romance - Island Fox Mating Season

Island Romance - Island Fox Mating Season

Are you contemplating romance and Valentine’s Day? So are the island foxes. The cold blustery days from December to February are the perfect season for California’s Channel Island foxes to pair up and settle down in a cozy den.

During autumn, island fox families tend to split up. The youngsters, now over six months old, head off on their own and the parents take a vacation from family life and each other. With the arrival of winter, the monogamous mates come back together. (About the island fox)

Island foxes make their dens in a sheltered location, sometimes underground, in a tree stump or in amongst dense undergrowth. The male and female establish a territory around their den site and settle down to finding food for a family.

A few island foxes born last spring, will also be out looking for a mate. Even though they are less than a year old, some will become parents this spring. Because population numbers are still far below normal on San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands, island foxes are breeding younger and having more offspring than they usually would. The abundance of island deer mice and other food items makes it possible for a pair of island foxes to raise five pups instead of the typical two or three.

Valentine’s Day 2008 will be very special on San Miguel and Santa Cruz Islands. For the first time since emergency captive breeding began in 2000, ALL of the island foxes on these two islands are once again free-roaming and choosing their own mates.
(2007 fox release on San Miguel Island) (2007 fox release on Santa Cruz Island).

Captive breeding programs saved the island foxes from extinction on both of these islands, but human matchmakers are never as good as the foxes themselves. We can all hope that this year there will be an increased number of island fox pups born on San Miguel and Santa Cruz Islands.

Eleven of the island foxes released in Channel Islands National Park are wearing radio-tracking collars funded through donations to Friends of the Island Fox. (radio collars)

Pups born in the spring and foxes slated for release from the captive breeding facility on Santa Rosa Island will soon be needing there own radio tracking collars. Your donation to Friends of the Island Fox helps to provide radio tracking collars vital to monitoring the recovery of endangered island foxes. You can donate through the PayPal and Cause for Good buttons in the upper right .

This Valentine’s Day give a truly romantic gift.
Help support a solution.
Working together we can SAVE the island fox.