Once Nearly Extinct California Island Foxes No Longer Endangered

August 12th, 2016

A Santa Catalina Island fox pup dashes into the wilderness after being released on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California. The Catalina Island fox was one of the world’s most endangered species, but it has been upgraded to “threatened.”

Kevork Djansezian / AP

Just 12 years ago, researchers feared that the California Island fox, a species about the size of a cat inhabiting a group of islands off the Southern California coast, was toast. Non-native predators and pesticides had dramatically reduced their ranks. The few that remained were placed on the endangered species list.

Now, thanks to an aggressive recovery effort, U.S. wildlife officials have removed three subspecies on San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands from the endangered list. A fourth subspecies, the Santa Catalina Island fox, has been upgraded from “endangered” to “threatened.”

Officials say the Island foxes’ recovery is the fastest of any mammal ever listed under the Endangered Species Act.

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