A rare Sierra Nevada red fox was photographered in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park/NPS
In a stroke of luck, a remote, motion-triggered camera in Yosemite National Park has captured a Sierra Nevada red fox out for a winter's day stroll in what is believed to be the first sighting of the rare carnivore in the park in nearly a century.
Park wildlife biologists had gone on a five-day backcountry trip to the far northern part of the park to check on previously deployed motion-sensitive cameras. They documented a sighting of the fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) on two separate instances (December 13, 2014 and January 4, 2015) within the park boundary. The Sierra Nevada red fox of California is one of the rarest mammals in North America, likely consisting of fewer than 50 individuals.
'We are thrilled to hear about the sighting of the Sierra Nevada red fox, one of the most rare and elusive animals in the Sierra Nevada,' said Yosemite Superintendent Don Neubacher. 'National parks like Yosemite provide habitat for all wildlife and it is encouraging to see that the red fox was sighted in the park.'
Sarah Stock, a park wildlife biologist, said the visual confirmation of the Sierra Nevada red fox in the park's "vast alpine wilderness provides an opportunity to join research partners in helping to protect this imperiled animal. We're excited to work across our boundary to join efforts with other researchers that will ultimately give these foxes the best chances for recovery.'
The nearest verified occurrences of Sierra Nevada red foxes have been in the Sonora Pass area, north of the park, where biologists from U.C. Davis (UCD), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have been monitoring a small Sierra Nevada red fox population, first documented by the Forest Service in 2010. Prior to 2010, the last verified sighting of a Sierra Nevada red fox in the region was two decades ago, according to park officials.
The Yosemite carnivore crew will continue to survey for Sierra Nevada red fox using remote cameras in hopes of detecting additional individuals. At each camera station, the crew also set up hair snare stations in the hopes of obtaining hair samples for genetic analysis. Through genetic analysis, the park can learn more about the diversity within the population and to confirm whether the fox(es) detected in Yosemite is genetically related to individuals from the Sonora Pass area.
These Sierra Nevada red fox detections are part of a larger study funded by the Yosemite Conservancy to determine occurrence and distribution of rare carnivores in Yosemite National Park.
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Comments
Finally, a bit of good news.
Agree justinh, great news, much thanks to the park biologists for their work on this.
June 19, 2012
Contact: Teri Lysak, Cascadia Wild, (503) 235-9533Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 310-6713
Newly Found Oregon Foxes May Be Unknown Populations of Rare Sierra Nevada Red Fox Species
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2012/red-fox-06-1...
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Threatened-California-fox-species-...
This image of a montane red fox were taken in the Mt. Hood Wilderness Area by Cascadia Wild and the Cascade Carnivore Project using remote cameras during spring 2012. They are the first confirmed detection of montane red fox in northern Oregon in decades, and are likely a newly discovered population of Sierra Nevada red fox Ñ a critically imperiled subspecies native to the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains south of the Columbia River.
Scientists have discovered two new colonies of an elusive high-mountain fox that until recently was thought to be nearly extinct, an environmental group announced Tuesday.
Using motion-sensor nighttime cameras, researchers captured photographs of theSierra Nevada red fox - for decades believed to exist only in California - near Mount Hood and Crater Lake in Oregon.