Rare Fox on the Rise

The Santa Cruz Island Fox

by Adam MacLean

The Santa Cruz Island fox (Susan Clarke)

The Santa Cruz Island fox is one of the six subspecies of the island foxes native to the Channel Islands just off the southern Californian coast. The Santa Cruz Island fox is the smallest species of fox found in the United States with adults weighing between just four and five pounds. The fox has a mixture of dark grey, reddish, and white fur and is endemic to Santa Cruz Island. The foxes can live anywhere on the island but prefers the woody, shrub filled areas for protection against its natural predator; the golden eagle. The foxes are omnivores and tend to eat very small animals (like lizards or insects) and fruits found on Santa Cruz Island. They are nocturnal, however their peak activity times are dusk and dawn.

Santa Cruz Island with Recovery Zones (taken from The Traveling Trinovid)

Endangerment

The Santa Cruz Island fox was added to the endangered species list on October 7^th, 2004 but was in trouble much earlier on. Since then, it has remained endangered simply because their population was so devastated. Fortunately, they are making a slow recovery. Currently, the Santa Cruz Island fox is listed as "near threatened."

A golden eagle preying on an island fox
 (taken from proteckmachinery.com)

 Cause of Endangerment
In the 1990’s, it was observed that the fox population on Santa Cruz Island was beginning to decline. Scientists soon realized that this was due to the increase in golden eagles. Unfortunately, the fox’s natural predator’s population had exploded due to the feral pig population on the island. Golden eagles prey on the fox but, with the feral pigs and their Santa Cruz Island fox-sized piglets, the golden eagle experienced a huge increase in population due to the increase in food. When the feral pigs started to be eliminated by humans, the golden eagles focused more on the foxes causing a rapid decrease in the fox population on Santa Cruz as well as all the other Channel Islands. According to the National Park Service 2011 Island Fox Report, the population of Santa Cruz Island fox decreased “from 2,000 adults in 1994 to 50-60 in 2000.” The largest threats to Santa Cruz Island foxes are the golden eagle population, inbreeding, and canine distemper virus (CDV). Scientists are keeping a careful eye on the golden eagle population and so far, it appears to be working. Because the fox population got so low, there was also a risk of inbreeding however, it appears that the foxes are not becoming genetically identical. In fact, nature.org reports that “The wild island fox population now stands at more than 1,300” compare to the 50-60 it stood at just 15 years before. There is also a risk of canine distemper virus (CDV). CDV has been found on some of the Channel Islands but, fortunately for the Santa Cruz Island fox, it has not yet made it to their island. It is a slow recovery, but it is believed with some human aid, the Santa Cruz Island fox will return to the population levels it was at pre-feral pig introduction.

( March 4, 2004 file photo
Yahoo News)

The Island Fox Recovery Plan

There are many parts to the recovery plan for the island fox and therefore the Santa Cruz Island fox as well. First is controlling the population of golden eagles or possibly extirpating them and reintroducing the native bald eagles that lived on the island before the DDT-caused bald eagle decline of the 1950’s. This would hope to return the island to a pre-feral pig (or even pre-golden eagle) status. Second is controlling the threat of CDV. Scientists are keeping a watchful eye of Santa Cruz Island and being careful not to introduce CDV to the foxes there. They are also hoping to cure the foxes on the other islands. Finally, scientists are breeding foxes in captivity and introducing them into the wild when they have matured enough. This eliminates the possibility of any outside factor hurting or killing them. Implamenting the above strategies, scientists hope to save the Santa Cruz Island fox. We cannot let this unique species die out due to human mistakes and with this recovery plan, we can hopefully prevent that from happening.

(taken from pinterest)

 To learn more about the Santa Cruz Island Fox click here

To learn more and help all the Island Foxes click here

*(this is a work-in-progress so if you have an comments or suggestions, let me know. Thanks.)*