Channel Island foxes may soon be removed from the endangered species list, as populations of the animals recover.
The foxes were on the verge of extinction in 1999 following the outbreak of canine distemper virus, which reduced the total population of the species own to an estimated 199.
The Catalina Island Conservancy initiated a recovery program involving immunizations, captive breeding and regular monitoring.
Today, there are somewhere around 1,400 of the creatures living on Catalina Island, one of the Channel Islands, according to the conservancy group. This is greater than the number of foxes living on Catalina before the disease nearly wiped out the species. After their brush with extinction 16 years ago, naturalists counted 300 of the animals in 2004, and the captive breeding program was discontinued.
As populations of the species grow, the animals are increasingly having encounters with humans and livestock. Open trash cans have been attracting the foxes, who enter human settlements to feast on discarded food.
Some of these encounters have resulted in the deaths of the foxes. Of the 25 animals killed during their recovery period, 21 died after being hit by cars, one had a fatal meeting with a dog, one ingested rat poison and two drowned in open water containers. Additionally, a rare cancer (ceruminous gland carcinoma) in the ears of animals has been seen in some foxes, which is concerning the people charged with assisting the species in their survival.
The Catalina Island fox weighs between four and six pounds, about 25 percent lighter than their relative, the gray fox. The foxes, which eat birds, lizards, insects and the fruit of cactus, are found nowhere else on Earth. They raise their young in simple dens.
"Older research on the island fox dated them back on the northern Channel Islands to 10,400 to 16,000 years ago. Yet, geologists believe the northern Channel Islands were never connected to the mainland. The most plausible and accepted theory for foxes crossing the water barrier of the Santa Barbara Channel is one of 'rafting,'" The National Park Service (NPS) reports.
Current research dates the first foxes on the island to around 6,000 years ago.
The conservancy is raising money for animal-proof garbage containers that will prevent the foxes from opening the cans.
"Foxes are attracted to trash cans and sometimes get trapped inside. However, since many of the cans are located near rest stops and scenic lookouts, an even greater danger is the possibility of the fox being struck by a vehicle while running across the road to reach the trash cans," Catalina Island Conservancy managers wrote on their Web site.
The group is continuing to monitor the animals as their population recovers.
Photo: Jack Baldelli | Flickr
