San Joaquin Kit Fox
Vulpes
macrotis mutica
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By: Kayla Pugeda
When asked as a child what my favorite animal was, I would eagerly answer, "fox!" So, upon finding out that this adorable animal, the San Joaquin Kit Fox was endangered, I had to find out more! What were the causes of its endangered status and what are some things I can do to help?
T Description and Ecology of San Joaquin Kit Fox
A distinct and undeniably adorable feature of the San Joaquin Kit Fox are their large ears in contrast to their small statures. The average size of a male SJ kit fox is about 20 inches, not including the tail which averages around 12 inches, surmounting the SJ kit fox to a whopping 32 inches in length! They have long legs and thin, agile bodies. Depending on the season, the coat color of the SJ kit fox ranges from buff, tan, yellowish-grey, and grizzled (FWS Recovery Plan). The average weight of an adult male SJ kit fox is approximately 5 pounds making them the smallest canid species in North America (EPA). The SJ kit fox’s life expectancy in the wild is approximately 7-8 years. They can begin breeding at the age of one (EPA). They are nocturnal animals. Prey species of the San Joaquin Kit Fox include smaller animals like kangaroo rats, white-footed mice, desert cottontails, etc., and they also eat some vegetation but mostly grass (EPA). They are underground dwellers, digging dens for protection from predators, regulating heat, and raising their young.
Photo: USFWS
https://www.fws.gov/sacramento/es_kids/san-joaquin-kit-fox/es_kids_san-joaquin-kit-fox.htm
2 Geographic and population changes
Historically the San Joaquin Kit Fox resided in
the San Joaquin Valley and western San Joaquin County, southern Kern County,
northern Tracy, CA, and eastern Stanislaus County (FWS Recovery Plan). There’s
a lack of comprehensive data and monitoring on their current geographic range. But
due to development in the San Joaquin Valley area, big extant populations of
the kit fox appear in the Carrizo Plains area and southeastern San Luis Obispo,
and what’s left of natural habitats in the San Joaquin Valley and the Central
Valley regions (FWS Recovery Plan). There are no historical population numbers
of the San Joaquin Kit Fox prior to being listed as endangered, and there's no viable or comprehensive data that present the current population numbers. This is due to the lack of an, "established scientifically valid population monitoring program," (FWS). In the image below, the region of Bakersfield and Kern County is the historic range area, but you can see they have branched out towards the inner central coast cities and moved in the northern central valley region.
http://esrp.csustan.edu/gis/
3 Listing date and type of listing
March 3rd, 1967 the San Joaquin Kit Fox was declared endangered.
4 Cause
of listing and Main threats to its continued existence
Main threat/ cause: conversion of lands in the San Joaquin region to “agricultural, industrial, and urban uses has eliminated these species from the majority of their historic ranges.” About less than 5% of actual historic range remains, and what remains is highly fragmented communities. Consequently, this created marginal habitats where it may be difficult for species to survive and persist in catastrophic events. Another threat is the persistence of nonnative plants that have invaded what remains of natural areas (FWS recovery plan).
Main threat/ cause: conversion of lands in the San Joaquin region to “agricultural, industrial, and urban uses has eliminated these species from the majority of their historic ranges.” About less than 5% of actual historic range remains, and what remains is highly fragmented communities. Consequently, this created marginal habitats where it may be difficult for species to survive and persist in catastrophic events. Another threat is the persistence of nonnative plants that have invaded what remains of natural areas (FWS recovery plan).
5 Description of Recovery Plan
The conservation and recovery effort of the San Joaquin Kit Fox is part of a larger recovery effort including 33 other species – 11 species endangered and 22 species of concern (including both plants and animals) – in the San Joaquin Valley region. They are bundled together because these organisms reside in the same natural habitat and are interdependent on each other’s existence. Yet, the San Joaquin Kit Fox plays a crucial role as somewhat of an umbrella species in the area since it exists in nearly all of the natural communities as the other listed species. Thus the protection of the Kit Fox will act as an “umbrella for protection” for the other imperiled species. Because of urban, agricultural, and industrial development in this area, the main component in bringing back the kit fox is establishing a network of conservation areas. Recovery efforts begin with the natural lands that currently remain and then linking them to compatible conservation areas vis-à-vis natural habitat corridors or islands. Kit foxes need large habitat areas and experience fluctuations in their population that it is necessary to conserve not just one population, but multiple existing populations to sustain their existence. There are three-core populations: Carrizo Plain area in San Luis Obispo County, the remaining natural lands of western Kern County, and the Ciervo-Panoche Natural area of Fresno and San Benito counties (FWS Recovery Plan). Conservation efforts in these core areas will hopefully revitalize the San Joaquin Kit Fox population. Connecting these large areas through habitat corridors and the like, will help reduce the negative effects of habitat degradation and fragmentation.6 What can YOU do?
Donate to Friends of the Carrizo Plain, they are a non-profit group that supports the three organizations in the Education, Interpretation, and Conservation of the unique objects and resources of the Carrizo Plain National Monument. Click link to donate! http://carrizo.org
Other resources
If you want to access the US Fish and Wildlife Service website, to learn more about the San Joaquin region and the species at risk. endangered, or threatened click below.
If you want a more in-depth look at the recovery plan, click the link below. https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/980930a.pdf
8. Works Cited
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1998. Recovery Plan for Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley, California. 340 pp. http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/980930a.pdfhttp://carrizo.org
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41587/0
http://lpfw.org/our-region/wildlife/san-joaquin-kit-fox/
Robert Peyton
ReplyDeleteYour log is well laid and organized, which makes it easy to read. This blog also has a good balance of factual information and conversation-like text.