Editing Fox (section)

==Conservation==

[[File:Urocyon littoralis pair.jpg|right|thumb|The [[island fox]] is a [[near-threatened species]].]]
Several fox species are [[endangered species|endangered]] in their native environments. Pressures placed on foxes include [[habitat loss]] and being hunted for pelts, other trade, or control.<ref>Ginsburg, Joshua Ross and David Whyte MacDonald. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QvUfIvp4muEC&pg=PA2 Foxes, Wolves, Jackals, and Dogs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130000126/https://books.google.com/books?id=QvUfIvp4muEC&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2023-11-30 }}. p.58.</ref> Due in part to their opportunistic hunting style and industriousness, foxes are commonly resented as nuisance animals.<ref>Bathgate, Michael. [https://books.google.com/books?id=sD6TAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 The Fox's Craft in Japanese Religion and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129230220/https://books.google.com/books?id=sD6TAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2023-11-29 }}. 2004. p.18.</ref> Contrastingly, foxes, while often considered pests themselves, have been successfully employed to control pests on fruit farms while leaving the fruit intact.<ref>McCandless, Linda  [https://web.archive.org/web/20100730043903/http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pubs/press/foxes.html Foxes are Beneficial on Fruit Farms]. nysaes.cornell.edu (1997-04-24)</ref>

===''Urocyon littoralis''===
The [[island fox]], though considered a [[near-threatened species]] throughout the world, is becoming increasingly endangered in its [[endemic]] environment of the [[California Channel Islands]].<ref name="GARY W 1739">{{cite journal|last1=ANGULO|first1=ELENA|last2=ROEMER|first2=GARY W.|last3=BEREC|first3=LUDĚK|last4=GASCOIGNE|first4=JOANNA|last5=COURCHAMP|first5=FRANCK|title=Double Allee Effects and Extinction in the Island Fox|journal=Conservation Biology|date=29 May 2007|volume=21|issue=4|pages=1082–1091|doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00721.x|pmid=17650257|bibcode=2007ConBi..21.1082A |url=https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/57044/1/conBiol.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020110218/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/57044/1/conBiol.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-20 |url-status=live|hdl=10261/57044|s2cid=16545913 |hdl-access=free}}<!--|access-date=17 September 2014--></ref> A population on an island is smaller than those on the mainland because of limited resources like space, food and shelter.<ref name="Essentials of conservation biology">{{cite book|last1=Primack|first1=Richard B.|title=Essentials of conservation biology|date=2014|publisher=Sinauer Associates|isbn=9781605352893|pages=143–146|edition=Sixth}}</ref> Island populations are therefore highly susceptible to external threats ranging from introduced predatory species and humans to [[extreme weather]].<ref name="Essentials of conservation biology"/>

On the California Channel Islands, it was found that the population of the island fox was so low due to an outbreak of [[canine distemper virus]] from 1999 to 2000<ref name="Stephan G 2004">{{cite journal|last1=Kohlmann|first1=Stephan G.|last2=Schmidt|first2=Gregory A.|last3=Garcelon|first3=David K.|title=A population viability analysis for the Island Fox on Santa Catalina Island, California|journal=Ecological Modelling|date=10 April 2005|volume=183|issue=1|pages=77–94|doi=10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2004.07.022|bibcode=2005EcMod.183...77K }}<!--|access-date=25 September 2014--></ref> as well as predation by non-native [[golden eagle]]s.<ref name="nps.gov">{{cite web|title=Channel Islands: The Restoration of the Island Fox|url=http://www.nps.gov/chis/naturescience/fox-saving.htm|website=National Park Service|access-date=25 September 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006151057/http://www.nps.gov/chis/naturescience/fox-saving.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 1993, the eagles have caused the population to decline by as much as 95%.<ref name="Stephan G 2004"/> Because of the low number of foxes, the population went through an [[Allee effect]] (an effect in which, at low enough densities, an individual's [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] decreases).<ref name="GARY W 1739"/> Conservationists had to take healthy breeding pairs out of the wild population to breed them in captivity until they had enough foxes to release back into the wild.<ref name="Stephan G 2004"/> Nonnative grazers were also removed so that native plants would be able to grow back to their natural height, thereby providing adequate cover and protection for the foxes against golden eagles.<ref name="nps.gov"/>

===''Pseudalopex fulvipes''===
[[Darwin's fox]] was considered [[critically endangered]] because of their small known population of 250 mature individuals as well as their restricted distribution.<ref name=Jimenez2006>{{cite journal|last1=Jiménez|first1=J. E.|title=Ecology of a coastal population of the critically endangered Darwin's fox (Pseudalopex fulvipes) on Chiloé Island, southern Chile|year=2006|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=271|issue=1|pages=63–77|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00218.x}}</ref> However, the [[IUCN]] have since downgraded the conservation status from crictically endangered in their 2004 and 2008 assessments to [[endangered]] in the 2016 assessment, following findings of a wider distribution than previously reported.<ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn | author =Silva-Rodríguez, E. | author2 =Farias, A. | author3 =Moreira-Arce, D. | author4 =Cabello, J. | author5 =Hidalgo-Hermoso, E. | author6 =Lucherini, M. | author7 =Jiménez, J. | name-list-style =amp | title =''Lycalopex fulvipes'' | volume =2016 | page =e.T41586A85370871 | year =2016 }}</ref> On the [[Chile]]an mainland, the population is limited to [[Nahuelbuta National Park]] and the surrounding [[Valdivian temperate rain forest|Valdivian rainforest]].<ref name=Jimenez2006/> Similarly on [[Chiloé Island]], their population is limited to the forests that extend from the southernmost to the northwesternmost part of the island.<ref name=Jimenez2006/> Though the Nahuelbuta National Park is protected, 90% of the species live on Chiloé Island.<ref name=iucn41586>{{cite iucn|author= Jiménez, J.E.|author2= Lucherini, M.|author3= Novaro, A.J.|name-list-style= amp |year= 2008|url= https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41586/0|title= ''Pseudalopex fulvipes''|access-date= 30 September 2014}}</ref>

A major issue the species faces is their dwindling, limited habitat due to the cutting and burning of the unprotected forests.<ref name=Jimenez2006/> Because of deforestation, the Darwin's fox habitat is shrinking, allowing for their competitor's ([[South American gray fox|chilla fox]]) preferred habitat of open space, to increase; the Darwin's fox, subsequently, is being outcompeted.<ref name=Yahnke1996>{{cite journal|last1=Yahnke|first1=Christopher J.|last2=Johnson|first2=Warren E.|last3=Geffen|first3=Eli|last4=Smith|first4=Deborah|last5=Hertel|first5=Fritz|last6=Roy|first6=Michael S.|last7=Bonacic|first7=Cristian F.|last8=Fuller|first8=Todd K.|last9=Van Valkenburgh|first9=Blaire|last10=Wayne|first10=Robert K.|year=1996|title=Darwin's Fox: A Distinct Endangered Species in a Vanishing Habitat|journal=Conservation Biology|volume=10|issue=2|pages=366–375|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10020366.x|bibcode=1996ConBi..10..366Y }}<!--|access-date=30 September 2014--></ref> Another problem they face is their inability to fight off diseases transmitted by the increasing number of pet dogs.<ref name=Jimenez2006/> To conserve these animals, researchers suggest the need for the forests that link the Nahuelbuta National Park to the coast of Chile and in turn Chiloé Island and its forests, to be protected.<ref name=Yahnke1996/> They also suggest that other forests around Chile be examined to determine whether Darwin's foxes have previously existed there or can live there in the future, should the need to reintroduce the species to those areas arise.<ref name=Yahnke1996/> And finally, the researchers advise for the creation of a captive breeding program, in Chile, because of the limited number of mature individuals in the wild.<ref name=Yahnke1996/>