Rare fox trots into view after 100 years, thrills biologists

It’s one of only about 50 thought to exist in North America, making the Sierra Nevada red fox one of the rarest mammals on the continent. In December and early January, one (or possibly two) came trotting into view of a motion-sensitive camera set up by wildlife biologists at Yosemite National Park in California. The fox’s sighting was the first inside the park since 1915 and was a boon for the scientists who study the small, shy mammal.

“National parks like Yosemite provide habitat for all wildlife and it is encouraging to see that the red fox was sighted in the park,” said Don Neubacher, Yosemite National Park Superintendent.

Park staff checked camera traps during a five-day back country trip and found two instances of a fox triggering the camera to go off. The camera stations also have hair snares, in the hopes of obtaining precious samples of fox hair for genetic testing.

Outside Yosemite, the last sighting of a Sierra Nevada red fox was in August 2010 near Sonora Pass, north of the park. Before that, the last time one was spotted was in the early 1990’s. The foxes have been seen at elevations ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. Writing in 1937, Joseph Grinnell told of the rarity of encountering the animal in “Fur-bearing Mammals of California,” leading some scientists to conclude there may not have been many of them around in the first place. The state of California banned trapping of the Sierra Nevada red fox in 1974 and the animal was added to the endangered list in 1980.