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The Nature Conservancy in California Home Places We Protect Features Explore Conservation Spotlight Our Partners News Ways to Donate Contact |
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After almost thirty years of careful planning, close collaboration and tireless field work, restoration efforts on Santa Cruz Island are finally paying off.
Oak seedlings are flourishing for the first time in 150 years. Endemic plants seldom seen are now sprouting across the island’s hills and valleys. Island foxes — the endangered, cat-sized descendants of the mainland gray fox — are back in strong numbers. Bald eagles are once again soaring above the island and successfully hatching young for the first time in half a century.
“We’re seeing the island come alive,” said Dr. Lotus Vermeer, The Nature Conservancy’s director of the Santa Cruz Island Project. “It’s so exciting that our restoration vision is becoming reality.”
Island Revitalization
Essential to the revival of the island’s ecology was the elimination of thousands of feral sheep and pigs. The animals were descendants of livestock brought to Santa Cruz Island by its first Euro-American settlers more than a century ago. By the time The Nature Conservancy purchased most of the island in 1978, it was desolate, the formerly lush landscape gnawed to the nubbin by sheep and uprooted by pigs.
The sheep were removed by the late 1980s, but the pigs were adept at hiding in the steepest, most inaccessible portions of the island. A group of professional hunters from New Zealand removed the last of them in 2006.
The removal of feral pigs and sheep is allowing native vegetation to reclaim the island. Formerly rare species such as island buckwheat, Santa Cruz Island live-forever and Santa Cruz Island silver lotus are now almost commonplace. Oak woodlands and bishop pine forests are expanding, and native bunchgrasses are returning. The Conservancy and its partner, the National Park Service, are augmenting the return of indigenous flora by eliminating invasive, non-native weeds.
Foxes and Eagles
The island fox is a major part of the Santa Cruz narrative. But the story of the fox must be explained in context with the stories of two other species.
Bald eagles once flourished on the islands, subsisting on fish and carrion. But DDT contamination of the marine food web prevented the birds from successfully reproducing, and they were gone from the area by the 1960s.
Golden eagles migrating from the mainland filled their niche, drawn by abundant prey — piglets mostly, but the island foxes were caught in the fray. Having evolved as the top predator on Santa Cruz Island, the diminutive foxes were unaccustomed to attack from the sky, and they made easy pickings. As the golden eagle population grew, the fox population plunged.
Along with eliminating the pigs, the Conservancy and the National Park Service implemented a multi-faceted fox recovery strategy: an island-wide monitoring and captive breeding program for the foxes, live trapping and relocation of the golden eagles, and a reestablishment program for bald eagles.
Eighty-five pups were produced by the captive breeding program and released to the wild; the island fox population now stands at more than 300. Since 1999, 32 golden eagles have been captured and relocated to the eastern Sierra. More than 40 bald eagles now inhabit the northern Channel Islands from the 61 juveniles that were introduced beginning in 2002. Bald eagles are highly aggressive, and typically chase golden eagles from their territory. Today, no more than two golden eagles ply the thermals above Santa Cruz Island, making it feasible to release foxes into the wild.
“This could be the most successful endangered species restoration effort in history,” said Vermeer of the island foxes. “We went from near extinction to recovery in only five years.”
A Partnership for Success
With all the components falling into place, the Santa Cruz Island restoration is emerging as a stunning success — one that could not have been accomplished without full cooperation between the public and private sectors, said Vermeer.
“This project proves that with sound science, strong partnerships and perseverance, restorations on a huge scale are possible,” said Vermeer. “We will continue to be vigilant in our care of Santa Cruz Island and share what we learn with the conservation community. Knowing that our efforts here will help improve island conservation worldwide makes this benchmark moment all the more special for me and, I hope, for our supporters.”
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Miguel Fairbanks (Santa Cruz Island fox); Photo © Miguel Fairbanks (Aerial of Santa Cruz Island)); Photo © Miguel Fairbanks (A sailboat moored in Santa Cruz Island's Prisoner's Harbor)
