PODCAST

Friends of the Island Fox

Friends of the Island Fox, Inc and Eclipse-1 Media

Reference materials on Channel Island fox: its biology, behavior, habitat, research, endangered status and conservation efforts. Home of Friends of the Island Fox a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. FIF is dedicated to preserving the island fox in the wild and providing education outreach to schools and communities.

science & medicine natural sciences

All Episodes

New Technology for Monitoring Island Foxes

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/08/18

Monitoring island fox survival is vital to protecting the vulnerable and small populations on six separate Channel Islands. (Current island fox status)Checking for the individual radio signals from 50–60 individual island foxes across an entire island every two weeks, can require many staff hours. Reducing staffing hours would make island-fox monitoring less expensive?Enter a new technology referred to as "Digipeater." The collar pictured above is one of the 10 new Digipeater radio collars funded by

en-us

Island Fox Status Update 2025

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/07/14

In 2024, island foxes remained healthy. Normal rainfall levels led to population balancing; high density populations decreased in number and low density populations increased. San Clemente Island, however, realized a third consecutive year of population decline. Concern for these island foxes grows because a specific cause for the decline remains unknown.island fox on San Clemente IslandThe following is an update across the Channel Islands from notes compiled by Friends of the Island Fox at the

en-us

Vaccinating Island Foxes Takes a Community

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/06/12

$15,322 of vaccine is headed into the field to protect island foxes!Donors like you made this possible!courtesy M. Navarro, NPSWhy do island foxes need to be vaccinated annually?Canine distemper virus (CDV) caused a catastrophic decline of Santa Catalina Island foxes 26 years ago. Evolving in isolation on their islands, island foxes haven't developed immunity to typical canine diseases. To protect populations,each yearat least 100 island foxes are vaccinated on each island against this deadly dog

en-us

Metabarcoding Reveals the Genetic Fingerprints of...

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/06/01

Scat samples from island spotted skunks and island foxes were collected last December on Santa Cruz Island. The samples were part of a trial research project to determine if a conservation working dog, Moose, could accurately locate and identify island spotted skunk scat. Meet Moose; How accurate was Moose?A total of 15 island spotted skunk scats were compared to island fox scats using metabarcoding.Metabarcoding is a process that takes a general biological sample and sifts out short sections of DNA

en-us

A Nose for Identifying a Species

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/05/29

Last December, Friends of the Island Fox worked with The Nature Conservancy and Working Dogs 4 Conservation on a project to see if a specially trained dog could track down island spotted skunk dens and scat. (See Moose the conservation working dog)courtesy of TNC and WD4CIn the initial project, Moose used his specially trained nose to locate 11 scat samples. Two scat samples were also found by humans. The samples were sent to the Genetics Lab at UC Davis and Friends of the Island Fox helped fund the

en-us

Fox Foto Friday - Creating a Living Library

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/04/04

What's in these vitals?courtesy L. Brenner, TNCIsland fox blood samples going back decades.During annual health check-ups, samples are taken of island fox blood. Blood samples can be used to screen for increased antibodies to a specific virus, to check for toxins, or to provide genetic information.These island fox blood samples from Santa Cruz Island are currently being archived and prepared for long-term cryogenic storage at the Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) at the University of New

en-us

Friends of the Island Fox Research Grant 2025

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/03/19

Friends of the Island Foxis currently accepting applications through June 15for the FIF 2025 Research GrantDownload Grant ApplicationIn 2025, Friends of the Island Fox is offering up to $7,000 in support to research projects benefiting greater understanding of the island fox and the Channel Island ecosystem.From the genetic impacts of near extinction and specific genetic influences on health to drought impacts on fox diet and counting island spotted skunks, FIF supports research to improve the

en-us

"Date with a Fox" - Investigating Causes of Death in...

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/03/10

Join Friends of the Island Fox for an insightful look into island fox health with veterinary pathologist, Leslie Woods, Ph.D."Date with a Fox" Zoom ProgramMortalities in the Channel Island Fox(Urocyon littoralis)The important role of postmortem examinations Tuesday, March 18 at 6:30 pm PTLeslie Woods, Professor Emerita of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at the School of Veterinary Medicine at U.C. Davis has been investing island fox health since 2010.Though retired, she

en-us

FIF Supports Research into the Impact of a Genetic...

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/02/27

When a population declines to a small number of survivors and then increases dramatically over the next few generations, there are always questions about genetic issues.Meet Elisabeth Leung a student at the University of California at Riverside. Working with her advisor Professor Ellie Armstrong, Leung is “Exploring founder contributions from the captive island fox breeding programs for Santa Rosa and San Miguel Island using genomic sequencing.”FIF is supporting Leung’s research because she is

en-us

Conservation Working Dogs and Zoos Helping Wildlife

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/02/11

photo courtesy of TNC and WD4CMeet “Moose” a hard-working canine with the nonprofit organization Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C).Moose recently completed a tour of duty on Santa Cruz Island as part of a multi-organizational effort to find a better way to gather information on island spotted skunks.Island spotted skunks only live on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands. As island foxes recovered on these islands, island spotted skunks seemed to have declined. There is concern for these rare little

en-us

Reaching a New Milestone - 440 Radio Collars

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/01/30

When does 1+1 = 440?When an eight-year-old Island Fox Ambassador joins forces with a long-time island fox donor to fund FIF's 440th radio-tracking collar.Rose was along for the ride when her sister Joy chose Channel Islands National Park as one of the parks she'd like to visit as part of the "Every Kid Outside" National Park pass for 4th graders. Visiting from her family home in North Carolina, little sister, Rose became an island fox fan.The sisters had sewn projects to raise funds for their trip,

en-us

Training Biologists to Be Investigators When an...

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2025/01/21

Dr. Jessica Sanchez overviews Necropsy Workshop In November 2024, Friends of the Island Fox sponsored the 3rd "Island Fox Necropsy Workshop" in collaboration with the Santa Barbara and San Diego Zoos. This workshop was held to train island managers and field biologists to investigate island fox mortalities and determine cause of death. In this blog post, wildlife veterinarian and FIF board member, Dr. Jessica Sanchez, describes how necropsies are preformed and why they are such an important part of

en-us

Date with a Fox - "Lewis" of the Santa Barbara Zoo

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/11/13

Meet Lewis at the Santa Barbara Zoo!In September, FIF and Santa Barbara Zoo Animal Care Staff did a live talk via ZooLife with a video camera watching Lewis in his habitat.If you missed this daytime event, you an still see Lewis in action. How do zoos care for these tiny predators? How do they encourage natural behaviors?Watch FIF &Animal Care Staff from the Santa Barbara Zoo for"Date with a Fox""Date with a Fox" is FIF's quarterly FREE virtual program (Past "Date with a Fox" programs).You'll

en-us

FIF 2024 Research Grant Investigating Link Between...

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/10/18

Meet Kimberly Schoenberger, recipient of FIF’s 2024 Island Fox Research Grant and a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California (USC) Dornsife College of Marine and Environmental Biology.Schoenberger is initiating the first investigation of island fox genetics using transcriptomics. This leading-edge research uses RNA (the copier of DNA) to look at a species’ genetic material and evaluate it for protein production and vital cell functions. Transcriptomics provides insight into how genes

en-us

Island Foxes Teaching the Next Generation of Field...

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/09/12

For the past two years, Friends of the Island Fox has had the honor of funding all of the new and refurbished fox tracking collars for Santa Cruz Island–but this summer, these collars were able to support more than just island fox monitoring and research.As part of Paso Robles High School's Field Studies Collaborative program, a group of 25 students ranging in age from 15–18 spent a week on Santa Cruz Island, learning about its history and ecosystems. The program includes student presentations,

en-us

Island Fox F257 is Back and Beautiful at Middle Age

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/09/03

F257 August 2024Channel Island National Park biologists are on Santa Rosa Island this week capturing island foxes, counting them, checking their health, and updating radio-tracking collars. Biologist Juliann Schamel contacted FIF with great news: Female island fox 257 was captured for the 5th year in a row and she's looking great! Here's Juliann's update:F257 was born in 2019, and has spent her entire life in her natal area,which overlooks the East Point estuary [as] Santa Cruz Island floats on the

en-us

FIF 2024 Trip To Santa Cruz Island

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/08/07

What do these smiling people have in common?They joined Friends of the Island Fox on a trip to Santa Cruz IslandJoin in the Fun and Experience Island Foxes in the WildSaturday, September 14, 2024We'll check-in at Ventura Harbor at 8 amand return around 5 pmThe $78 registration fee includes: boat fare, FIF naturalist guides on the island, and a donation to support island fox conservation.It's a full day of exploring Santa Cruz Island and each trip has unique experiences. an island fox follows a

en-us

Fox Foto Friday - Island Foxes Being Counted

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/08/03

What's the word from the northern Channel Islands?NPS biologist Juliann Schamel says the "season is going well so far, we just caught our 100th fox of the seasonyesterday!"If you look closely, you can see the dark squared-off battery end of a radio collar beneath the chin of the captured island fox.Friends of the Island Fox funded its 417th radio-tracking collar last month. New radio collars arrived for deployment on three islands!Your donations provide radio collars to monitor island fox survival

en-us

Radio Collars Arrive for Summer Health Checks!

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/07/09

You Did It!These refurbished radio collars are being prepared for deployment during island fox health checks on San Miguel Island in the next few weeks.The Channel Islands National Park fox biologists tie bright pink ribbons on radio collars and mark the ribbon with the collar's ID number and radio frequency. Pink makes it easy to find the collar in a dark backpack. The ribbon can quickly be removed and the information on it entered into field notes, after the island fox has been released.Having the

en-us

Fox Foto Friday - Island Foxes as Seed Dispersers

Friends of the Island Fox ·

2024/07/06

What do these year-old toyon plants have in common?They were grown from seeds found in island fox scat.FIF talks about island foxes eating native plant fruits and spreading the seeds across the islands, but now there is scientific evidence that this seed dispersal can help island plants.Researchers Savannah Bartel and John Orrock from the Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, were investigating the role social status plays in vertebrate dispersal of seeds. They collected island fox scat with toyon seeds and

en-us

54 results

Friends of the Island Fox

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Eye On The Sky

Vermont Public

Cienciaes.com

cienciaes.com

This Week in Virology

Vincent Racaniello

Hablando con Científicos - Cienciaes.com

cienciaes.com

The Elective Rotation: A Critical Care Hospital Pharmacy Podcast

Pharmacy Joe