Santa Cruz Island Fox, California. © Ian Shive

From the Photographer...
Ian Shive

I encountered this curious young island fox and his mother on a beautiful summer day with a cool breeze blowing through the golden grasses of Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of southern California. Since 1978, the Conservancy has worked to restore Santa Cruz Island and its unique species, like the island fox.

Equally as inquisitive as me, the young pup circled, coming closer and closer to me until finally, my 200mm lens was too much to keep him in focus. Switching to a more suitable focal length, I spent the better part of an hour sitting in the middle of a field, photographing an entire series of this inquisitive creature while his mother lay unconcerned in the nearby shade of a tree.

About the Unique Island Fox

The Santa Cruz Island fox has been federally listed as an endangered species since 2004 and is considered "critically endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List. As it currently stands, this fox faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, though its chances of survival are getting better with each passing day.

The fox is native to six of the eight Channel Islands and each subspecies of the fox is unique to the island it inhabits, making them unique evolutionary masterpieces. Their battle is a relatively new one, though. It was only in the 1990s that steep population declines were identified.

On Santa Cruz Island the number of foxes dropped from 2,000 adults in 1994 to less than 135 in 2000. On other islands, the number of fox dropped to just 15 adults. The primary cause was attributed to golden eagle predation.

Like many environmental issues, the problems were a series of circumstances that played out over time — in this case, DDT poisoning reduced the numbers of bald eagles (which typically subsist on fish), which left room for the golden eagles to come in. Feral pigs were also common on the islands and further attracted the golden eagles, helping to increase their numbers rapidly. The fox, which was the apex predator and was previously unaccustomed to being prey, was unable to adapt quickly enough and its population plummeted.

Even worse, the fox has been so isolated that it has no immunity to diseases or parasites from the mainland, such as canine distemper, which wiped out 90 percent of Santa Catalina Island’s population in 1998.

Successful Recovery

Despite these recent challenges, quick work by conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy have helped to eradicate the feral pigs and reduce the number of golden eagles restoring balance.

Already, the fox has begun to recover, and is often visible running through the tall golden grass or lounging around like a common house pet.

Ian Shive is an award-winning conservation photographer based in Los Angeles. He is the author of the new book, "The National Parks: Our American Landscape". He has photographed for The Nature Conservancy, National Geographic and the National Parks Conservation Association and is proud of his role in the awareness and conservation of our wild places.

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