Island Fox Research Paper

The island fox has been endangered since the 1990’s.but was not federally recognized as such until 2004.

The island foxes on Santa Catalina became endangered because a wild North American raccoon was “stow away” on a boat and escaped onto the island in the late 1990s. Canine distemper virus, a fatal dog disease passed from this raccoon to the island foxes. By 2000 almost 90% of the foxes died from the distemper virus. This rapid population decline was due to an imbalance in the ecosystem. The island fox is the largest mammal native to the islands thus at the top of the food chain but it did not know how to protect itself when a new predator came to the northern islands.

Bald eagles also lived on the northern islands and on Santa Catalina Island. But with the introduction of DDT used in WWII the chemical made the eggs of the eagle brittle and the eggs would break as parents would try to incubate them. Thus the bald eagle population decreased. This large bird of prey specializes in eating fish and sea birds and did not prey on the island fox. As a territorial bird, it …show more content…
Without it the life on the island will collapse. Many of the species on the island depend may not survive without the island fox. Island deer mice would eat so much of the vegetation on the island population explosions and starvation would happen very quickly. With the disappearance of the Island Fox, striped skunk populations grow to large numbers causing a downfall of the birds that nest on the island. Island plants, like the Catalina cherry, Toyon and Manzanita, depend on the island fox to eat and spread seeds across the island. Insects and bird populations are dependent on the plants that the island fox reseeds. The kelp forests surrounding the Channel Islands benefit from everything too as the plants prevent silty runoff. Healthy kelp forests provide safe zone for many important fish and crustacean species helpful for bald eagles and