First Capture of Sierra Nevada Red Fox in Southern California
The elusive Sierra Nevada red fox has been spotted for the first time in the mountains of southern California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reports that biologists from their Bishop Field Office captured the animal near Mammoth Lake in January.
This marks a significant achievement as it’s the first instance of the CDFW successfully capturing and fitting one of California’s rarest native carnivores with a GPS tracking collar in the southern Sierra Nevada.
After capture, the red fox was released back into its mountainous habitat, allowing officials to monitor its movements closely.
Officials noted this as a critical step toward better understanding species that are both rare and in need of conservation. Julia Lawson, an environmental scientist with the CDFW, stated, “This is the culmination of 10 years of remote camera and fecal surveys and three years of intensive trapping to determine the fox’s range in the southern Sierra.”
She added, “Everyone on the team was thrilled that our hard work paid off. Our goal is to use what we learn from this collared animal to work toward long-term population recovery.”
The captured red fox is depicted in various images running across snowy mountain landscapes, and it even looks directly at the camera in one shot.
As per CDFW’s release, the Sierra Nevada red fox is classified as an endangered species under California’s Endangered Species Act. The federal Endangered Species Act also provides additional protection for the population found in the Sierra Nevada region.
Currently, estimates suggest there are fewer than 50 of these foxes remaining in the entire Sierra Nevada. Interestingly, these remote foxes are isolated from their counterparts in the Cascade Mountains. Back in 2018, the CDFW was successful in collaring several red foxes in the Lassen Peak area of Northern California, paving the way for similar research in the northern Sierra Nevada.
Recently, another rare sighting occurred north of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County, where a 3-year-old female wolf was captured on a trail camera as she searched for a mate and suitable habitat. The CDFW has been tracking her movements via GPS since 2024; she navigated through the Kern County desert and crossed multiple busy highways.
