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.

Read the full story at Greenspace, The Times' environmental blog.

--Louis Sahagun

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

Comments

[jamesincalifornia]

How can you say the species is extinct when, as you state, roughly 20 animals [are] clinging to survival in the Lassen Peak region? I think you meant to say "nearly extinct."

[DJ]

Yea! Go red fox!

[Gary Houghton]

Anyone else notice what looks like a tag in the ear of the fox? I'm no expert, but to me it clearly looks like there is a round white tag in the fox's right ear. Since the last sentance of the story references a known population approximately 150 miles to the north, I would guess that this fox is from that area. Someone from the Forrest Service should be able to confirm if the population to the north is tagged or not, and if so, are the tags similar to what the picture looks like. Perhaps they are doing a bit better that "clinging to survival"... Let's hope so!

[general]

What the hell does "supposedly extinct" mean when you contradict yourself in the last paragraph of the article?

It means you are an idiot. The fox in question is not extinct and nobody presumed it was. It is in trouble, rare, and threatened, but not extinct, nor supposedly extinct.

[borgno]

I'm confused. This is what Wikipedia has to say about the red fox:

"By far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), ..."

Further, I see them almost every day in my front yard, although with black legs.

[Anna O. Zacher]

`Supposedly', is right. Over on the southeastern side of the Sierra, upslope (about 4,000-6,000 ft) red foxes are seen often, and I've seen several while living there along Sage Flat Road, 1998-2009... ask any local resident. Maybe Yosemite has or had none or few, but obviously they are not extinct.

[Elizabeth]

Don't know how they can say they are extint, we have a a family of those white tipped foxes living here in west Texas.

[MikeOHara]

It sounds as if the Sierra Nevada red fox population is severely threatened, especially in the Sonora Pass area (west of Bridgeport). "Supposedly extinct" might be an overstatement.

Just leave them alone: don't hunt, trap, or tag them. They have plenty to eat and will do fine over time.

[Imabiologist]

When the article says 'extinct' it is talking about vulpes vulpes necator, a subspecies of vulpes vulpes. Different populations can be considered separate species if they are separated by space or obstacles such that they cannot interbreed.

[Lynn]

I'm so happy to see this sort of issue in the regular news, however, this science writing needs some serious help!
A latin name for a species should be italicized and the genus name should be capitalized. Even the headline is technically wrong: the proper term for a locally-extinct species is "extirpated." I know this is a big word but if you're going to talks science, you need to use the proper terms.