Overview
- CDFW captured, GPS-collared, and released a Sierra Nevada red fox near Mammoth Lakes in January, the department’s first such operation in the Sierra Nevada.
- The achievement followed 10 years of remote camera and scat surveys and three years of intensive trapping in the southern range, CDFW said.
- Location data from the collar and biological samples will support research and long-term recovery planning for the elusive high-elevation subspecies.
- Fewer than 50 foxes are believed to live in the Sierra Nevada, which is why they carry protections under California’s Threatened listing and the federal Endangered Species Act.
- Earlier GPS work in 2018 in the Lassen Peak region located dens and clarified reproduction and movement, and scientists say current risks include low genetic diversity and climate-driven pressures.