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| Santa Cruz Island fox pup. © Lynda
Richardson |
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At just five pounds, the Santa Cruz Island fox is smaller than the average
house cat, but its fascinating history, unique characteristics and dwindling
population make its survival a big priority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy.
Island Migration
The first foxes probably found their island home more than 18,000 years ago by floating
from the mainland on debris after a storm. The land mass where they landed—called Santarosae,
about five to seven miles off the coast—consisted of what we now call Anacapa, San Miguel,
Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands. As sea levels rose and the northern Channel Islands
separated, genetically distinct subspecies evolved on three of the Islands—San Miguel,
Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz. Scientists believe Chumash Native Americans, who made pets
of the docile, inquisitive creatures, introduced the fox to the southern Channel
Islands—Santa Catalina, San Clemente and San Nicholas—about 2,200 to 3,800 years ago.
Unique Appearance
All subspecies of island fox are virtually identical in appearance, with grayish-white and
black backs, dull white underbellies and cinnamon-rust at the base of the ears and sides of
the neck and limbs. All are descendants of the larger mainland gray fox.
Top Predator
Opportunistic foragers with a diverse diet, island foxes are the Channel Islands’ largest
native carnivores. They eat summer holly, cholla cactus, rose, sumac, nightshade, native deer
mice, ground-nesting birds and, at certain times of the year, grasshoppers and crickets. They
live in a wide variety of habitats, including valley and foothill grasslands, coastal dunes,
coastal bluffs, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland and coastal marsh.
Mating
Island foxes appear to be monogamous and produce one to five pups during late April through May.
The male and female both care for their offspring through the summer. The young foxes may stay
in the vicinity of their birthplace into the winter, while others may remain in these areas into
their second year.
A Vanishing Species
Six years ago approximately 6,000 Channel Island foxes existed; today they number
fewer than 1,660. On Santa Cruz Island, the fox population has fallen from 1,500 to
fewer than 100 animals—all within a five-year period. In March 2004, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service listed four subspecies of island fox—the Santa Cruz, San Miguel,
Santa Rosa and Santa Catalina Island foxes—as endangered species.
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The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are engaged in a complex effort to save the island fox. Their intensive, science-based restoration program includes four main components:
Breeding island foxes in captivity and monitoring the wild population;
Relocating golden eagles, which are responsible for the fox decline;
Eradicating non-native feral pigs, whose abundance attracted golden eagles from the mainland; and
Reintroducing bald eagles, historically native birds that disappeared from the Channel Islands due to DDT contamination of their ocean-borne food supply. Scientists believe the territorial bald eagles—which eat fish and carrion, not foxes—may keep golden eagles from recolonizing. |
