Federal wildlife officials recently proposed removing three subspecies of foxes native to California’s Channel Islands from the Endangered Species list. If the proposal is approved, the Catalina Island Fox would be reclassified, or “downlisted” as threatened. The public has until April 18 to comment on the proposal.
According to Julie King, Catalina Island Conservancy director of Conservation & Wildlife Management, the Conservancy’s work with the Island Fox is not yet done.
Federal wildlife officials recently proposed removing three subspecies of foxes native to California’s Channel Islands from the Endangered Species list. If the proposal is approved, the Catalina Island Fox would be reclassified, or “downlisted” as threatened. The public has until April 18 to comment on the proposal.
According to Julie King, Catalina Island Conservancy director of Conservation & Wildlife Management, the Conservancy’s work with the Island Fox is not yet done.
“While the recovery of the endangered Catalina Island Fox population is one of the great conservation success stories, the Catalina Island Conservancy will be engaged in active management of the foxes on the Island for many years to come. Conservation work is never done, especially on an Island visited by nearly one million people each year. As a result, the Catalina Island Fox will be downlisted, rather than delisted, because of the need for continued management,” she said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced a proposal to remove the San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Island Fox subspecies from the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife would be a historic success for the multiple partners involved in recovery efforts.
The Wildlife Service is also proposing to downlist, or improve the status of, Island Foxes on Santa Catalina Island from endangered to threatened under the ESA. Since the Island Foxes were listed under the ESA in 2004, the Wildlife Service and its partners have worked to eliminate or greatly reduce the primary threats facing the subspecies, namely predation, disease and low population numbers.
The best available scientific data now suggests that populations of these Island Fox subspecies have recovered to self-sustaining levels. To ensure that northern Channel Island Fox populations remain secure well into the future, the Wildlife Service is also proposing a monitoring plan.
According to the Wildlife service, this represents the fastest successful recovery of any mammal listed as an endangered species in the United States.
“The remarkable recovery efforts of land managers and conservation partners over the past two decades on behalf of the Channel Island Fox is the reason for this historic recovery success,” said Dan Ashe, director of the Wildlife Service. “The speed at which these subspecies have recovered points to the strength of the (Endangered Species Act) in focusing conservation attention and catalyzing recovery actions, and demonstrates what we can achieve together.”
On March 5, 2004, four of the six subspecies of Island Fox endemic to the California Channel Islands were listed as endangered following catastrophic population declines of over 90 percent, due primarily to predation by golden eagles on the northern Channel Islands and a canine distemper outbreak on Santa Catalina Island.
According to the Island Conservancy, Catalina Island was unique from the other Channel Islands in the cause of its fox population decline.
Its population declined from more than 1,300 to about 100 because of an outbreak of canine distemper virus likely brought to the Island by a stowaway raccoon. An adaptive management program – which included captive breeding from 2001 to 2004, vaccinations against CDV, translocations and monitoring—restored the fox population to its pre-crash numbers. In 2015, the Conservancy’s survey of the fox population determined there are about 1,800 foxes on the Island.
According to the Wildlife Service, the potential for a disease outbreak remains an existing threat to the fox.
Therefore, the Wildlife Service recommends the subspecies’ status be reclassified from endangered to threatened. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: fw8islandfox@fws.gov
U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Service; Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office; 2493 Portola Road, Suite B; Ventura, CA 93003.
Fax: Attn: Field Supervisor; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Service; Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office; 805-644–3958.
For more information, visit http://ventura.fws.gov.
