The rare Sierra red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator)has apparently returned to Yosemite National Park. The first confirmed sighting in 100 years was captured by a motion-sensitive camera on December 12, 2014. It is believed that fewer than 50 of this fox species survive in the wild. Park officials are delighted that the red fox may be reclaiming lost territory. Biologists are monitoring a small population of foxes in the Sonora Pass area north of the Park. The first verified sighiting of that group came 2010, twenty years after the last sighting. It is possible a male left the Sonora group to establish a territory of his own. More data needs to be collected to make a definitive assessment. Researchers are deploying more cameras and snagging hair samples to determine its genome and compare it with the Sonora population. Yosemite is a vast park, first protected in 1864 and is home to 400 species of vertebrates, but many of once native carnivores such as the fox exist in depleted numbers because of man's persecution, trapping and hunting. The red fox is protected by the state of California since 1980 and is being considered for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. Trapping was banned in 1974, but the animal suffered near extinction because of their luxurious fur. Historically, the red fox ranged throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains, but perhaps not in large numbers due to competition with larger preditors.
Monday, March 02, 2015
Red Fox Returns to Yosemite
The rare Sierra red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator)has apparently returned to Yosemite National Park. The first confirmed sighting in 100 years was captured by a motion-sensitive camera on December 12, 2014. It is believed that fewer than 50 of this fox species survive in the wild. Park officials are delighted that the red fox may be reclaiming lost territory. Biologists are monitoring a small population of foxes in the Sonora Pass area north of the Park. The first verified sighiting of that group came 2010, twenty years after the last sighting. It is possible a male left the Sonora group to establish a territory of his own. More data needs to be collected to make a definitive assessment. Researchers are deploying more cameras and snagging hair samples to determine its genome and compare it with the Sonora population. Yosemite is a vast park, first protected in 1864 and is home to 400 species of vertebrates, but many of once native carnivores such as the fox exist in depleted numbers because of man's persecution, trapping and hunting. The red fox is protected by the state of California since 1980 and is being considered for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. Trapping was banned in 1974, but the animal suffered near extinction because of their luxurious fur. Historically, the red fox ranged throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains, but perhaps not in large numbers due to competition with larger preditors.