San Nicolas Island Fox - By use of radio collars and a telemetry system, an efficient and effective way of monitoring a key species on the Channel Islands under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy will facilitate fox conservation efforts and minimize costs.

The San Nicolas Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis dickey) is a species at risk. Four of the six Channel Islands fox subspecies already are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) due to rapid population declines. While the specific mechanisms for the declines differ, all were associated with a sudden increase in mortality. Fox densities on San Nicolas Island, CA are unusually high, making this population particularly susceptible to the spread of an unanticipated virulent disease. If the population fell, this species could be listed under the ESA and operations on San Nicolas Island could be severely impacted. A three-year Legacy project (08-308) developed an effective and efficient automated monitoring technique to detect potential threats in time to prevent population declines to critical levels. By use of radio collars and a telemetry system, an efficient and effective way of monitoring a key species on the Channel Islands under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy will facilitate fox conservation efforts and minimize costs. Other installations could use these same techniques to monitor their fox populations, both on island and mainland habitat. (Department of Defense photo)

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