Editing Fox (section)

===''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"/>