Island Fox Questions

Friends of the Island Fox is committed to connecting the community with the problems and issues concerned with protecting island foxes. When we receive questions, we want to bring you answers directly from the people in the field with these endangered animals. We received a great question from a student and were able to get a first-hand response.

hi this is a student from balboa middle school. i loved the presentation we got on Wednesday March 11, 2009. the video they showed us was very cute!!!! i have a few questions:

• how often do the island foxes get hurt?
• when you take them to the hospital does it hurt the foxes?
• how long was it until you let the foxes free from cativity?

from a true inpired girl, Anastasia p.s. what are the people , who help the foxes????

Sara is an Island Fox Technician for Channel Island National Park on Santa Rosa Island, she answered:


Hi Anastasia,

Good questions.

Most of the injuries to island foxes have come from mate aggression during breeding (winter/spring) season. This was more common in our captive [breeding] population but has been documented in the wild population as well. These injuries include minor bites and tears around the ears, to more significant trauma involving rips, bites and abscesses (infected pockets under the skin) in various places. The foxes are actually fairly aggressive and scrappy toward one another during this time of the year.

Other common injuries include foxtails stuck in an eye or ear and torn toenails, these usually don't require any additional treatment beyond the time of observance. And, every now and then with the captives, we would find a case of ringworm, exciting.

Each island has a clinic called a "Foxpital" and is set up like a small veterinary clinic with all the necessary equipment to properly care for an ill or injured fox. When a fox requires care, they are brought into the foxpital and given an initial assessment by one of our staff fox biologists, from there a veterinarian is consulted to determine the best course of treatment. If necessary, we have veterinarians on call who can come out and perform emergency procedures on the island. Each animal's stay is dependent on the nature and extent of their injury. Most often, if an injury requires a stay in the foxpital, the animal is in for a week or so. In very rare cases we have cared for animals as long as three months.

Thanks for your interest in the island fox,

Sara

Island Fox Technician
Channel Islands National Park
Santa Rosa Island

Other stories on injured foxes:
Fox and the Fishing Lure
Burnie Boots

Your Donations to Friends of the Island Fox support conservation efforts across all of the Channel Islands to help island foxes.

Island Romance - Island Fox Mating Season

Island Romance - Island Fox Mating Season

Are you contemplating romance and Valentine’s Day? So are the island foxes. The cold blustery days from December to February are the perfect season for California’s Channel Island foxes to pair up and settle down in a cozy den.

During autumn, island fox families tend to split up. The youngsters, now over six months old, head off on their own and the parents take a vacation from family life and each other. With the arrival of winter, the monogamous mates come back together. (About the island fox)

Island foxes make their dens in a sheltered location, sometimes underground, in a tree stump or in amongst dense undergrowth. The male and female establish a territory around their den site and settle down to finding food for a family.

A few island foxes born last spring, will also be out looking for a mate. Even though they are less than a year old, some will become parents this spring. Because population numbers are still far below normal on San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands, island foxes are breeding younger and having more offspring than they usually would. The abundance of island deer mice and other food items makes it possible for a pair of island foxes to raise five pups instead of the typical two or three.

Valentine’s Day 2008 will be very special on San Miguel and Santa Cruz Islands. For the first time since emergency captive breeding began in 2000, ALL of the island foxes on these two islands are once again free-roaming and choosing their own mates.
(2007 fox release on San Miguel Island) (2007 fox release on Santa Cruz Island).

Captive breeding programs saved the island foxes from extinction on both of these islands, but human matchmakers are never as good as the foxes themselves. We can all hope that this year there will be an increased number of island fox pups born on San Miguel and Santa Cruz Islands.

Eleven of the island foxes released in Channel Islands National Park are wearing radio-tracking collars funded through donations to Friends of the Island Fox. (radio collars)

Pups born in the spring and foxes slated for release from the captive breeding facility on Santa Rosa Island will soon be needing there own radio tracking collars. Your donation to Friends of the Island Fox helps to provide radio tracking collars vital to monitoring the recovery of endangered island foxes. You can donate through the PayPal and Cause for Good buttons in the upper right .

This Valentine’s Day give a truly romantic gift.
Help support a solution.
Working together we can SAVE the island fox.