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Restoration Takes FlightPage 4
This spring, when biologists found eggs in two nests, “We were all holding our breath,” Vermeer says. And when not one but two chicks hatched successfully, it was proof positive that the recovery program was on the right track. As Rempel and other researchers watch the chick hop about its lofty nest, one parent alights on top of a neighboring pine to keep an eye out. Suddenly the chick squawks shrilly, bringing a chatter of chirps in response from the parent. Both are aware of the human presence, says Rempel, the field biologist who first spotted the breeding pair acting “in a nesting kind of way.” This is as close as we want to get, he whispers, ignoring the chasm between his lookout and the nest. “Any closer would be stressful for the birds.” The scientific work generated by this chick’s birth takes place in a four-person tent pitched just down the ridge, where Rempel and Little, his field partner, have set up an $80,000 high-tech monitoring system. A solar-powered camera mounted 80 yards from the nest beams the chick’s every move to the biologists in the tent: when it eats, what and how much, when it sleeps, how often the adults return to the nest, and what they bring. The research team reluctantly peels itself away from the precarious post with nods of salute to the island’s new family. Picking their way down the steep slope, the researchers pass a pile of rocks where a fox has marked its territory with fresh scat. Further on, the shy white flowers of live-forevers protrude from the shadow of blue ceanothus blooms. Saving the Island Fox Manzanita and shoulder-high grasses all but hide the pens scattered across a hillside pungent with natural fox scent. Inside one enclosure, a pair of foxes is curled on a perch in pale gray symmetry, their cinnamon-colored legs identically tucked and bushy tails identically draped. They eye the group of biologists examining the pen, warily at first, before simultaneously dropping off to sleep. The captive-fox program has produced 75 pups since 2002, says Rachel Wolstenholme, Santa Cruz Island restoration manager. Encouraged by these numbers, biologists began releasing captive-bred foxes into the wild—three in 2002 and another nine in 2003. But when five of those nine died within six weeks of their release, the managers brought the remaining four back into captivity. The culprit was clear: Researchers found evidence the golden eagles had killed the foxes. In 2005, and early 2006 more than 20 foxes were killed by golden eagles. The Conservancy and the Park Service intensified efforts to capture and remove the island’s non-native golden eagles. In late June, what is hoped to be the last nesting pair left the island on a boat bound for the mainland, where they were driven to the eastern Sierra Nevada and released. A total of 44 golden eagles have been relocated from the northern Channel Islands. None have returned. With the golden eagles removed, Wolstenholme is optimistic that the fox population will rebound and stabilize on its own, allowing biologists to eliminate the captive-breeding program altogether. This summer they released 18 foxes, the first to go into the wild in two years. All are doing well.
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