.In "Management by Majority," conservation writer Ted Williams writes for Audubon magazine about the need to control wildlife, including the red fox, and he takes to task the modern Animal Rights movement for spreading disinformation steeped in emotional arguments.
Williams notes that:
Animal rights groups have told the California Department of Fish and Game that eastern red foxes are 'native' because they've been in the state for more than a century and that they should not be killed but caught in humane box traps (even though they won't go into them) and sent to 'other states' (even though the other states have said no thanks).
Five years ago noted ornithologist and ecologist Lloyd Kiff called alien red foxes the 'litmus test that determines whether people are conservationists or animal rights people' and went on to make this prophetic observation:
"If not checked soon, [red foxes] will account for more extinctions of bird species in the state [of California] than any other single factor in history. These people would rather have red foxes than all these 'weird' birds. If it were put to a vote, I don't know whether we could win this one.'"
The good new is that Audubon went to court against the Humane Society, and won. As a consequence the use of leghold traps on federal land is legal in California, where they are still used to protect nesting bird colonies in wildlife refuges.
The bad news is that the state largely banned fox trapping on all the land that they controlled, saying they feared that if trapping of non-native red fox were allowed, it might result in accidental deaths of Sierra Nevada fox and San Joaquin Kit Foxes, both protected species.
After a few years went by, however, the state of California rethought its position and now trapping of red fox is aggressively pursued in any location where threatened or endangered species nest or are being reintroduced.
As the California Division of Fish and Game now notes on its web site:
Cute and capable of arousing a strong emotional response in some people, the non-native red fox is, nevertheless, unnatural in California ecosystems and a threat to some native wildlife. Because of the severity of non-native red fox predation and the ineffectiveness of other management activities, the Department's only recourse at some locations is to reduce or eliminate local red fox populations. Only a very small percentage of California's non-native red foxes are eliminated in this manner. . . .
Only one subspecies occurs naturally in California: the Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator). The range of the Sierra Nevada red fox is limited to the conifer forests and rugged alpine landscape of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges between 4,000 feet and 12,000 feet—mostly above 7,000 feet. The Sierra Nevada red fox is so uncommon that the California Fish and Game Commission declared it threatened in 1980. Populations of red foxes are found elsewhere in California but these animals are not native; they have been introduced by people.
Non-native red foxes were brought to California by people interested in recreation and profit. The earliest known red fox introduction occurred in southern Sacramento Valley lowlands during the 1870s, probably soon after the completion of the railroad connecting the eastern United States to the west. Early settlers imported and released eastern red foxes for fox hunting and fur trapping. These highly adaptable carnivores fit into an environment unprepared for their predatory skills and diverse appetites—and the first non-native red fox populations became established in California's lowlands.
After World War I, red foxes were also imported for fur farming and by the 1940s, California had 125 fox farms. Some foxes escaped and others were released during periods when fox hunting or fur farming were in decline. By the 1970s, non-native red fox populations were firmly established in the Sacramento Valley, expanding into the San Joaquin Valley, and appearing in other isolated regions of the state.
Non-native red foxes were observed occasionally at a few south coast locations during the 1940s. Their numbers increased during the 1970s and ten years later, they were common at many Orange and Los Angeles county coastal sites. Non-native red foxes were not observed at Monterey and San Francisco bay marshes until the 1980s but they have become well-established in barely one decade. . . .
Examples of Non-Native Red Fox Problems
Savvy, successful, and even endearing to some people, non-native red foxes are, nevertheless, well-documented killers of water birds, ground-nesting birds, and rodents. They are clearly jeopardizing the survival of many threatened and endangered species that are the subject of vigorous protection and restoration programs. Numerous studies, field observations, and analyses of kill sites document predation and link declines in some wildlife populations directly to the non-native red fox. Here are some specific examples:
4El Segundo Dunes: Red foxes reduced populations of or eliminated nearly 20 species of snakes, lizards, rodents, and mammals.
4 Moss Landing: Red foxes prevented several shorebird and gull species from nesting. During 1989 and 1990, they frightened nursing adult harbor seals from the beach and many completely abandoned their recently born pups.
4 San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge: The non-native red fox is largely responsible for furthering the decline of endangered California clapper rails—from 1,200 to 1,500 rails in the 1980s to less than 500 today. A radiotelemetry study documented that the foxes kill nestlings, adult rails, and take eggs. Also at risk are endangered salt marsh harvest mice and California least terns and threatened snowy plovers. At nearby Bair Island, the foxes decimated the bay's largest nesting colony of egrets and herons, ravaging about 500 nests.
4 Monterey Bay: Non-native red foxes appeared in 1985 and their numbers increased dramatically. This area includes a major nesting site for threatened snowy plovers that has been studied for twenty years. During 1990, 205 plover nests were counted and 137 nests were destroyed. Red foxes were responsible for the predation of 60 of the destroyed nests.4 Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge: Non-native red foxes appeared in Orange County in 1979. The foxes preyed heavily on one of the state's last large populations of the endangered light-footed clapper rails and by 1986, only five pairs remained. During 1988, foxes penetrated a fenced, three-acre nesting area for endangered California least terns and took eggs from 44 of the 69 nests.
4 Ballona Wetlands: The foxes made their first appearance at this small, Los Angeles County marsh after 1981. Eventually, red fox numbers soared and posed a serious threat to many native marsh birds and mammals, including threatened snowy plovers and endangered Belding's savannah sparrows. An owner/developer is preserving and restoring 350 acres of the wetland in conjunction with approved development of the area. To protect vulnerable marsh species, the DFG authorized a fox trapping and euthanasia program, with limited relocation of some foxes to research facilities. Trapping and restoration efforts were intermittently stymied because animal rights activists harassed trappers, obstructed trapping efforts, damaged property, and threatened people involved with the project. Harassment continued despite court orders to stop such behavior and one of the group's officers was indicted and found guilty.
4 San Joaquin Valley: Non-native red foxes have moved into the range of the San Joaquin kit fox, a threatened species. There are expanding populations near Bakersfield and Fresno. Non-native red foxes have killed some of their threatened cousins inhabiting the Carrizo Plain.
It is the Department's mission to manage and protect California's diverse fish and wildlife and the habitats on which they depend. Because non-native red fox numbers and the extent of their range are so large, management efforts normally focus only on areas where these non-natives pose a significant threat. Some local populations are simply being monitored and no action has been taken. Clearly, the Department does not intend to eradicate all non-native red foxes.
However, aggressive red fox management has been required at coastal wetlands where habitat has been specifically preserved for threatened and endangered wildlife. These beaches, lagoons, and estuaries are intensively managed ecosystems where tidal barriers are artificially breached, freshwater flows are regulated, and artificial islands are built for nesting species. Red fox management is just another factor to be considered in balancing the ecosystem.
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