Between October and December, Conservancy Wildlife Biologist Emily Hamblen led a team that included Conservancy Conservation Operations Coordinator Becky Rudy and Dr. Peter Sharpe from the Institute for Wildlife Studies to study and care for the federally Threatened Catalina Island fox. Supplies including vaccines, syringes and blood draw vials for research, mite and flea medicine, radio collars, tick removal equipment, food for bait, and more, all needed to be gathered each morning while the moon still shines so that the first foxes of the day can be processed as soon as light reaches the Island. This year, more than 350 foxes were captured during the six weeks of fox trapping, resulting in nearly 300 vaccinated animals and the addition of 25 new radio collars for a total of 58 sentinel animals.
Well done to this hardworking team!