THE SAN JOAQUIN KIT FOX- A LIFE OF RECOVERY: Amanda Simonich

THE SAN JOAQUIN KIT FOX- A LIFE OF RECOVERY

Vulpes macrotis mutica

By Amanda Simonich 

A photo of a young kit fox, taken by Donald Quintana

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/one-glimpse-of-these-baby-kit-foxes-and-youll-be-hooked-on-their-story

Growing up in Tracy, a historically agricultural town in the mid-northern region of California’s Central Valley, I was exposed to a running paranoia and distrust of the canidae* around us. Coyotes and foxes were cursed, labelled as a threat to livestock and as a target to kill. Though many of the statements made about coyotes have yet to be disproven to me, I have learned that a general misconception existed in the way the people around me viewed foxes. Rather than seeing them as being monsters to be feared, I saw them as cunning and folkloric, and in many cases, endangered. 

One fox in particular, the San Joaquin Valley Kit Fox, is a being that fits my description from above, and that disproves the negative claims I grew up hearing about foxes. 

Distribution of Kit Foxes
http://online.sfsu.edu/bholzman/courses/Fall00Projects/kfox

 A Brief History

Originally concluded to belong to the Swift fox family, it was not until years after its discovery that the fox was labelled as distinct enough to be given its own name. C Hart Merriam was the first to describe it, in Riverside California, though the type locality* was said to be in Tracy (yet another reason why this particular specie appealed to me so heavily).

The average age of the San Joaquin Kit foxes found is two. Some have been discovered at seven and eight-and in captivity they can even live to ten—but such longevity is rare. In fact, the amount of foxes at the age of one year or younger outnumber the amount of older foxes as a whole.

Appearance of the Fox

The Kit fox is the smallest of all North American foxes. The San Joaquin Kit—weighing an average of 5 pounds for males and 4.6 pounds for females—is the largest of them. They are comparable to house cats in size, with an average length of 31.7 inches (with 11.6 inches of that being tail) in males, and 30.3 inches (with 11.2 inches of tail) in females. The legs of both sexes measure an average of 12 inches from the pad of the foot to the shoulder blade. Accompanying that small, slim body and bushy tail are large ears that are relatively close together and a narrow nose. Their coat varies geographically and seasonally, but will typically appear as a combination of tan and orange in summer months and of silver and gray in winter months. These specifications become important when distinguishing the San Joaquin Kit Fox from other subspecies of Kit, as well as from other wolves. Because of its seasonal color patterns, the San Joaquin Kit is often confused with both the Red and Grey Fox. However, both of these opposing foxes have a slightly larger size, weighing 8 pounds or more, and do not have the black-tipped tail that Kit foxes do.

Top Left: The Kit Fox; Top Right: The Grey Fox; Bottom Center: The Red Fox

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2015/june/061615b.asp

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/90986854941334573/

http://faculty.ucr.edu/~chappell/INW/mammals/SanJoaquinkitfox011.jpg

Kit foxes also have tracks that differ in size from other canids*, as well as from domestic cats that live in the same areas, making it relatively easy for researchers to trace their movements.

San Joaquin Kit Fox Habits 

All foxes are primarily nocturnal, typically partaking in activities above ground only after the sun goes down. However, as temperatures begin to warm in late Spring and early Summer, they are often seen out and about during the day as well. 

https://sites.google.com/site/sanjoaquinkitfoxtp2015/feeding-habits

The diet of the San Joaquin Kit fox varies geographically, seasonally, and annually, though it can be said to consist mostly of kangaroo rats, pocket mice, white-footed mice, cottontails, desert cottontails, black-tailed hairs, antelope squirrels, ground squirrels, ground nesting birds, and insects. Aspects of the diet can also be plant based, including varieties of grasses. 

As for reproduction, mating and conception often occurs in the months between December and March. In September and October, whelping (birthing) dens are created. With a gestation period of 48-52 days, births often take place in February, 

March, and April. During pregnancy and following parturition, male’s will hunt and provide for mothers and their young. Male and female pairs will remain together throughout the year. The litters delivered are typically two to six pups large, and the pups emerge above ground at a little over a month of age. By four to five months, many of the pups will have already set off on their own, though in some cases, offspring will stay to help raise the next litter. 

Threats 

A mortality rate of 50% has been reported in adult San Joaquin Kits, while a rate closer to 70% has been reported in juveniles. Natural mortality factors affecting the fox include starvation, predation by larger carnivores, flooding, disease, parasites, and drought; of these, predation is the leading factor. Nonnative red foxes and domestic dogs pose a constant threat, but it is the coyote that does the most harm. 

Red and Gray foxes in surrounding areas also compete with them for resources like prey and habitat. 

A kit fox caught in a school volleyball net.
He ended up losing a rear leg. 
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Keep-Me-Wild/Kit-Fox

As for human related deaths, shooting, trapping, livestock grazing, second-hand poisoning (through pesticides or rodenticides), road kills, and problems in relation to agricultural, industrial, and urban development are all common. Humans often divert water supplies for agricultural or personal use, creating aqueducts, canals, and dams that make water accessible to human habitats, but not fox ones. These habitats are often destroyed or disturbed by agricultural fields, oil fields, range lands, and highways, and as these natural lands are cultivated and developed, San Joaquin Kit foxes are forced to colonize other areas. 

The ultimate result of these human activities on foxes and other animals is displacement. Often times human activities and natural occurrences lead to a reduction of prey populations, which have a direct correlation to success of reproduction; as density of prey species decreases, so too does reproductive success. Even though many adults are able to survive these harmful occurrences existing around them, the conditions can leave them unable to support pups. This further affects the population’s numbers in a negative manner.  

Reacting to the threats…and surviving them

The San Joaquin Kit fox has an extensive history of being threatened. Due to this, the specie has been forced to learn how to adapt to harsh conditions. In light of urbanization, the foxes have learned to survive around and within cities. Often they will be seen scavenging for food from parking lots and dumpsters. And with this urbanized lifestyle, some have grown relatively tame. 

To avoid predation, particularly from coyotes, the San Joaquin Kit fox changes its den four to five times a month; in places with extremely high mortality rates, this number is almost always larger. 

Though declining, the San Joaquin Kit fox has been defined as having high ecological plasticity*.   

Endangered Listing 

It is estimated that by the 1930s, the original San Joaquin Kit Fox population had been reduced by half. After the 1930s, there was a further 20-43% decline in the fox population, and by 1975, approximately 85% of the population was found in only three counties alone. 

Currently, there are fewer than 7,000 kit foxes. After years without any decrease in (and only additions to) the threats to the continued existence of the San Joaquin Kit fox, it was finally listed as endangered. In California, this occurred on June 27^th, 1971, though federally it had been done years earlier, on March 11^th, 1967. 

The First Recovery Plan for the San Joaquin Kit Fox was published in 1983, while the most recent was published in 1998. 

The 1998 Recovery Plan can be found here, beginning on page 121:

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/980930a.pdf

Recovery 

Recovery Plans consist of:

1. a description of site-specific management actions necessary to achieve recovery of the species,
2. objective, measurable criteria which, when met, would result in a determination that the species be removed from the list; and
3. estimates of the time and costs required to achieve the plan's goal

The recovery actions of the San Joaquin Kit fox are broken up into two separate forms, A and B. A refers to habitat protection and population interchange. B refers to population ecology and management. The plans consist of coyote control, habitat enhancement, fox relocation, and supplement feeding. They require targeting main populations and their distinctions. 

Most of all, they require people who care and want a continued existence for Vulpes macro tis mutica, the San Joaquin Kit Fox. 

What can you do? 

Consider adopting a San Joaquin Kit fox! While the prospect of having a cat-sized fox living at your home may excite you (as it indeed excited me), the adoption process is entirely symbolic. What this means is that the money you give—through a donation of twenty, thirty, or fifty dollars—is contributed to scientific and publicly educational pursuits at the state and federal level regarding the recovery of the San Joaquin Kit.

To learn more about purchasing one of these Adoption “Kits”, call (800) 385-9712, or visit: 

https://secure.defenders.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=wagc_kitfox&s_src=3WEW1700XXXXX&s_subsrc=112916_adopt_block_magazine/fall-2014/worth-defending

Alongside this, you can spread positivity in the name of the San Joaquin Kit fox; you can educate others on the specie and why it deserves the protection its Recovery Plan calls for. 

http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=81442

Thousands of species have gone extinct since mankind's presence on the world. 

Please do your part to save this one from that fate. 

For if you do not, who will? 

Terms: 

*canidae: is the overlying defining term for wolves, foxes, coyotes, jackals, and the domestic dog as a whole. 

*type locality: the place where a specimen or species was first found and recognized. 

*ecological plasticity: the ability of an organism to change its phenotype (the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype or genetic constitution with the environment) in response to changes in the environment. 

Sources: 

"Basic Facts About San Joaquin Kit Foxes." Defenders of Wildlife. Defenders of Wildlife, 19 Sept. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016. <http://www.defenders.org/san-joaquin-kit-fox/basic-facts>.

"Dictionary.com - The World's Favorite Online Dictionary!" Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. <http://www.dictionary.com/>.

"Recovery of Species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) :: NOAA Fisheries." NOAA Fisheries. 

 Department of Commerce, 2 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016. <http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/recovery/>.

"Species Profile for San Joaquin Kit Fox (Vulpes Macrotis Mutica)." Species Profile for San Joaquin Kit Fox (Vulpes Macrotis Mutica). US Fish and Wildlife Service, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2016. <http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A006>.

Swenty, Sarah. "Kids' Species Information, San Joaquin Kit Fox." Kids' Species Information, San Joaquin Kit Fox. Department of the Interior, 16 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016. <https://www.fws.gov/sacramento/es_kids/san-joaquin-kit-fox/es_kids_san-joaquin-kit-fox.htm>. 

And most of all, 

The San Joaquin Kit Fox Recovery Plan

<http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/980930a.pdf>