Supposedly extinct red fox discovered near Yosemite National Park

 
The genetic signature of canine slobber on a bait bag of chicken scraps and a fuzzy photograph snapped by a motion-sensitive camera north of Yosemite National Park have confirmed the existence of a supposedly extinct red fox, the U.S. Forest Service announced this week.

“The last known sighting of a Sierra Nevada red fox in the Sonora Pass area was sometime in the 1920s,” said Mike Crawley, Bridgeport District ranger. “Needless to say, we are quite surprised and excited by this find.”

Federal wildlife technicians Emily Crowe and Julien Pellegrini were checking hundreds of photographs when they came across an over-exposed image taken at 2:17 a.m. on Aug. 11 of what appeared to be the rare red fox with a characteristic white-tipped tail trying to get at the bait bag dangling from a tree.

The Sierra Nevada red fox (vulpes vulpes necator) lives at high elevations, eating small mammals and birds. They have a reddish-colored head, back, and sides; black backs of the ears; black "socks" on their feet, and a white-tipped tail.

However, the only known population of the Sierra Nevada red fox is a group of roughly 20 animals clinging to survival in the Lassen Peak region, about 150 miles to the north.

DNA analysis of saliva from the tooth punctures on the bait bag allowed UC Davis wildlife genetics researchers Ben Sacks and Mark Statham to make a positive identification.

“We got back to the Forest Service and said, ‘Yep. You’ve got yourself a Sierra Nevada red fox there, and it’s distinct from the Lassen Peak population,’” Sacks said. “It’s got a genetic signature that we haven’t seen outside of the skulls and skins of museum specimens collected before 1926.”

“Red foxes don’t live to be 100 years old, so we’re assuming there are more of them up there,” Sacks added. “So, we now have two small, isolated populations, and we don’t know how big the second group is. That’s about as endangered as you can get.”

On Friday, federal biologists, UC Davis genetics researchers and university students began setting up additional monitoring stations and cameras in the area to try to determine the size and health of the Sonora Pass population.

It remains to be seen whether or not the discovery will affect ongoing U.S. Marine Corps training exercises as well as plans to develop a new snow mobile crossing in the remote area.

“It is very unusual to discover a new large animal species,” said Forest Service spokeswoman Christie Kalkowski. “In this case, it was like finding a rare jewel in a totally unexpected place.”

UPDATE: This blog post was updated in a Sept 7, 2010 story in the Los Angeles Times on the existence of the rare red fox

-- Louis Sahagun

Photo: Sierra Nevada red fox in Lassen Peak region/Keith Slausen, US Forest Service

Comments

[Willow Tee]

Forget bigfoot patty. I'll be happy with ivory-billed woodpecker :-)

[Geneva Coats]

What in the world is inside its right ear? Some sort of bluetooth? (redtooth? ROFL)

[patty]

I think this is great! Just because we do not see them does that mean they do not exist? Maybe one day somebody will bring evidence of bigfoot.

[Brady Westwater]

As other commentators have pointed out, the Sierra Red fox is not a separate species. It is one of almost 50 sub-species of Red Foxes found in the world. It was never extinct, but just 'extirpated' (no longer found) in the southern part of its former territory.

It is also not a new species (or even a new sub-species) as was said by someone in the article - but - earlier this year a new sub-species of Red Fox was discovered in California.

The Sacramento Red Fox, which had been considered part of the population of Eastern Red Foxes imported into California in the 19th Century, as of this year - is now considered one of the three sub-species of Red Foxes - two of which are native - found in California.

California also has Kit Foxes in the desert, Gray Foxes in much of the state, six sub-species of Island Foxes on six different Channel Islands and, of course - lots of Coyotes. The Gray Wolf, however - has been.... totally extirpated... throughout California.

[sirene]

Is this the photo referred to in the article? doesn't seem to be ("trying to get at a bait bag in a tree"). Wouldn't it be more meaningful to use that photo?

And yes, confusing and misleading to use the word "extinct" in this context. as the Time has moved to blogs and other news snippets, the "news" has become less and less factual.

[socal mil]

RE: idaho kid, what the hell does foxes have to due to with illegal immigration?

[Chief2feathers]

I meant to say "Anyway" not "anywhere"!

[Chief2feathers]

Yeah, I agree the word should've been "rare". But this is all news to me, as two years ago while camping in the Sierra National Forest, two foxes that look just like that hung around the edge of our campsite while we ate chicken. Probably hoping we'd throw leftover bones, I guess. Most times while out fishing, I could hear the distinct, hoarse bark of foxes. I figured they had a den nearby. Anywhere, they're around -- just because people don't see them or count them on their wildlife surveys doesn't mean they aren't there.

[Kelly5]

The facts of this story were misreported, which resulted in an erroneous headline, too. The writer should have made the distinction between two types of the same, still-extant species of red fox. The Sierra Nevada red fox is not "supposedly extinct," as the reporter wrote. It has not, however, been seen in the Sonora Pass area for many decades. That is the factual news which the reporter buried in an otherwise confusing article. He even goes on to quote a UC Davis calling the species "endangered." Endangered and extinct are not the same categories. I suggest that the writer school himself in the definitions of the terms threatened, endangered, and extinct as they apply to species.

[Leecal]

Now, will we be willing to protect this jewel ? I sure hope so.

[TheIdahoKid]

Quick, shut down California, move everybody out of the area, this red fox could do what the Obama admin can't, control illegal immigration

[michael g]

Great story. But, I must say, that many years ago-- while on a roadtrip through the Motherlode country-- I pulled off Highway 49 for the "call to nature". In the midst of this, a movement down the slope drew my attention. It was a Sierra Nevada Red Fox. I distinctly remember it-- same as the one pictured in the photo. We just sort of stared at one another for perhaps five seconds. I even remarked to my companions waiting back in the car, "Guys, I just glimpsed something truly unusual...". Let's pray they come back in abundance.

[tina erickson]

this is wonderful news

[cabeachguy]

"Supposedly extinct" and "the only known population" don't really go together either.

Why didn't they just say "rare red fox found outside of the only currently known habitat area", or rare red fox returns to an original breeding habitat?

Sensationalism helps bring more research bucks from the feds I suppose.

[Knux Kitsune]

*translation of communication between a Vulpes vulpes fulva and the recently discovered Vulpes vulpes necator*

"Keep being awesome"

[Peter Gleick]

Uh, read the difference between "extinct" and "extirpated." The red fox isn't extinct. The subspecies have been extirpated from parts of its range:

Read here: http://birdstuff.blogspot.com/2007/05/extinction-versus-extirpation.html.

"Extinction is perhaps one of the most misunderstood and misused words in the English language. In the context of conservation biology and ecology, extinction literally means the death of a species throughout its range (and I supposed that it could also be correctly used to describe the loss of a subspecies). Extirpation is properly the loss of a local or regional population, with the species continuing to survive elsewhere. I continually see the words extinct or extinction used when what the writer really meant was extirpated or extirpation."