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SAN JOAQUIN KIT FOX
Vulpes macrotus mutica
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Endangered,
federal Endangered Species Act
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Threatened,
state Endangered Species Act
While weighing in at only five pounds,
the San Joaquin kit fox is not your average toy poodle (though
they are related to dogs, wolves, and other canine species).
They are the smallest foxes in North America, but their ears are
much larger than other foxes, making them well-adapted to living
it hot, dry areas. Their large ears may help dissipate body heat
and also help them focus on tiny noises in the night, such as insects
or mice. San Joaquin kit foxes can survive without freshwater,
obtaining enough fluids from their prey alone. Their heavily
pigmented eyes provide protection from the fierce sun, and the
large amount of hair on the soles of their feet may protect them from hot soil.
San Joaquin kit foxes are
primarily active at night, hunting
kangaroo rats and other small
rodents, ground squirrels, birds, and insects throughout the
night along with their main food source, grass. They will
sometimes rest and play near their dens during the afternoons,
but become most active near sunset and throughout the night. Two
distinctive coats develop each year: a tan summer coat and a
silver-gray winter coat.
Kit foxes use a variety of open
habitats like grassland, scrubland, and meadows. They are
considered to be umbrella species because their habitat
requirements overlap with many other imperiled species. Efforts
to protect the kit fox will benefit many other wildlife species.
UNDERGROUND DWELLERS
Like other species in the canine
family, kit foxes are denning creatures, relying on underground
shelters for regulating temperatures, avoiding predators, and
raising their young. San Joaquin kit foxes commonly use dens
constructed by other animals, and move around often. In fact,
they can have up to thirty multi-chambered dens each year! They
don't leave much evidence behind that they're using a particular
den, making it extremely important to protect all remaining den
sites, even if they appear to be unused.
San Joaquin kit foxes typically
change dens four or five times during the summer. Scientists
think that this frequent change of dens might be a way for the
foxes to avoid coyotes.
Researchers have reported
individual foxes using more than 20 den sites annually and
family groups using as many as 43. In another study, a single
animal used 70 different dens over a two-year period. San
Joaquin kit foxes on the Carrizo Plain seem to change dens more
frequently, spending only 2-3 days in a den before moving to a
different location.
At night, the San Joaquin kit fox
roams an average of nine miles in search of prey.
Sometimes, kit foxes will have home ranges of less than one
square mile, while others may have territories up to twelve
square miles.
Kit foxes are able to breed when
they're one year old and adult pairs typically stay together all
year. Litters of two to six pups are born in February or March.
While the female is lactating the male provides most of the food
for her and the pups. Pups emerge above ground around one month
of age, and after 4-5 months, the family bonds begin to dissolve
and the young begin dispersing. Sometimes, offspring remain with
their parents through the following year and help raise a
subsequent litter. Kit foxes can live up to eight years.
THREATS & CURRENT STATUS
 Prior
to 1930, kit foxes inhabited the entire San Joaquin Valley in
central California, as well as the lower elevations of the
eastern Coast Ranges.
Today, kit fox populations have
declined by as much as 33%, and they are now limited to the west
side of the San Joaquin valley and in the Los Padres National
Forest. Kit foxes are found in the Carrizo Plain National
Monument as well as the Los Padres National Forest in the upper
Cuyama Valley and on the eastern slopes of the La Panza Range in
San Luis Obispo County.
Now highly scattered and fragmented, the largest remaining
populations are in western Kern County, Kern County, and in the
Carrizo Plain. The Carrizo Plain is the largest of the
three remaining core populations, making this area vital to the
recovery of the species.
In 1967
the San Joaquin kit fox was listed as a federally endangered
species, and in 1971 the State of California listed it as a
threatened species because of a dramatic decline in habitat.
Much of the habitat for the kit fox has been developed for
agricultural and industrial development. Development leads to
fragmentation and isolation, making it difficult to find
shelter, mates and food. Human caused mortalities are primarily
due to vehicle strikes and also shooting, trapping, and poisoning. Off-road
vehicular use can lead to the collapse and suffocation of kit
foxes. Oil development also threatens kit fox populations. At least
four kit foxes
have drowned in pools of oil and others have lodged themselves in pipes
or oil well cellars. Roads associated with oil development can
fragment kit fox habitat and result in increased vehicle
strikes, and land clearing for roads and oil pads can collapse
or bury den sites. Intense livestock grazing that destroys shrub
cover and reduces prey abundance may also be detrimental to kit
foxes.
PROTECTING THE
KIT FOX
Forestwatch helps protect San
Joaquin kit foxes and their habitat from fragmentation and habitat loss.
We've demanded strict wildlife protection standards in the
management plans for the Carrizo Plain National Monument and the
Los Padres National Forest to ensure that remaining kit fox
habitat remains unfragmented and intact.
ForestWatch has also worked to
prevent new oil development in ecologically sensitive kit fox
habitat. We work to ensure that other activities like livestock
grazing and off-road vehicle use are compatible with kit fox
protection and recovery. ForestWatch is also encouraging the
U.S. Forest Service to conduct surveys to determine the presence
of kit fox dens on the Los Padres National Forest so that their
habitat can be protected.
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