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).

Education and the Channel Island Fox

photo courtesy of Inge Rose

You can’t care about an animal and its ecosystem if you don’t know about it.

This year Friends of the Island Fox programs reached:

• Over 1,200 students in classrooms across Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.
• Our volunteers provided “Fox Talk” presentations to over 1,500 children and adults in community groups, nature centers, state parks and at Channel Islands National Park.

More about FIF programs

Understanding the importance of this small little fox as a keystone predator on the islands has inspired students and people across the country to help fund island fox conservation.

• Fox Ambassador Schools
• El Segundo Ladies Golf Club
• Fort Collins, CO Foxes Baseball Club

Education is one of our primary goals and your donations to Friends of the Island Fox make it possible for us to provide education programs.

Each classroom offers the opportunity to teach our next generation about the native plants and animals that are their neighbors. Local wildlife depends on human neighbors that respect and value the environment. 

FIF also grew its participation in continuing adult education through our relationship with Road Scholar. Our programs on the Channel Island fox have become an important part of Road Scholar’s adventures to Coastal California and Channel Islands National Park. http://www.roadscholar.org
 

photo courtesy of Paul Bronstein

This holiday you can give the gift of education by supporting Friends of the Island Fox in someone’s honor.

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.