Fox Could be on Endangered List

There may be as little as 20 Sierra Nevada Red Foxes left in the mountain ranges of the Sierra and South Cascades, or as many as fifty. Either way, the are living on the brink of extinction, but haven’t been given endangered species status. Recently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced they will begin a review to see if they will grant that legal protection, the red foxes undoubtedly deserve.

The process for adding a species to the endangered list is sometimes so lengthy by the time a new addition is officially confirmed, the species might already be almost gone, and therefore the legal protection does nothing to prevent the extinction.

Hundreds of species are still stuck in government red tape in a legal sense, while their populations remain subject to the same conditions causing declines in their numbers. An agreement between government agencies described as an improvement in the process, still will take six years to make decisions on 251 species.

The review to determine whether to list the Sierra Nevada Red Fox as endangered requires is supposed to take only one year, but why has it taken so long for them to do the review?

Last year one of the very rare foxes was photographed near the Sonora Pass in California. It was the first sighting of one in so many years, some people believed they had been driven into extinction there.

Currently logging, off-road and over-snow vehicles, livestock grazing and fish stocking are threatening its mountain habitat. Also climate change is causing hotter, drier conditions which reduces the number of prey in their traditional habitat, so they have less to eat and have to move higher into the mountains. The Center for Biological Diversity says the Sierra red foxes are at high risk for extinction. A species of chipmunk is believed to have vanished from the Sierra due to climate change altering their habitat.

Image Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Read more: Conscious Consumer, Wildlife

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Tracy P.

7:14PM PDT on Apr 1, 2012

I have seen many many women over the last few years walking through Grand Central wearing red fox fur. They disgust me and I always notice how ugly they are and wonder why anyone would want to wear dead animals. As for the plea to put these beautiful creatures on the endangered species list, a no brainer really, but then again the fish and game people are not big in the brain department. From the looks of all the animals on the brink of extinction, not many people are all that smart. If the masses stood up and demanded that wildlife and the land they live on should be respected, then it would be safe, but the masses are not concerned with wildlife, the environment, or doing the right thing.

send a green star

Mel M.

1:30PM PST on Feb 8, 2012

Fool people.

paula e.

3:06AM PST on Feb 6, 2012

Stupid and foolish people. Animals need protection from human greed and selfishness.

Kimberly M.

5:42PM PST on Jan 23, 2012

“If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.”
~ Chief Seattle

tammy B.

3:23AM PST on Jan 10, 2012

Well, another one down?

Deborah D.

10:28AM PST on Jan 9, 2012

Foxes are fun, lively creatures to watch.
The fact that they may be endangered is
a calling card to us all.
Why are we destroying that which adds so much
beauty to our lives?
May we respect all forms of life.
They are are our heritage.

Andrea A.

2:15AM PST on Jan 9, 2012

Thanks for the article.

Darla G.

6:51AM PST on Jan 7, 2012

Why isn't this animal on the endangered species list? It sure as hell should be, if there are only a maximum of 50 remaining.

Carrie Anne B.

2:52AM PST on Jan 6, 2012

sad news, thanks for sharing

Maryann B.

2:15AM PST on Jan 6, 2012

@ Carl...HUH?!?!