Steps Planned to Save Channel Island Foxes

Human interference has harmed the island habitat so severely that many foxes inhabiting remote Channel Islands National Park must be removed from the wild and placed in captivity to save them from extinction, federal officials said Wednesday.

Numbers of island foxes found at the park off the Ventura County Coast have plummeted by 90% in the past four years, making the diminutive animal one of North America’s most imperiled canine species.

Only nine are known to remain at San Miguel Island, a former fox stronghold, where 450 animals were counted four years ago. Related subspecies of fox are faring little better at Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands.

Outlining a series of urgency measures at an island news conference, National Park Service officials said the best chance for the animals’ survival is to slowly rebuild their numbers through captive breeding. This strategy has been successfully used in the past to rescue California condors and peregrine falcons.

By summer, 20 foxes from San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands will be placed into captivity. Park Service officials say they have set aside $31,000 to pay for that work, but continuing the program for the next three years could cost $2 million--far more than the park can afford. The nonprofit National Park Foundation has launched a “Save the Island Fox” campaign, with a 888 GOPARKS phone line to raise $150,000.