1 / 7

San Joaquin Kit Fox

San Joaquin Kit Fox. Meredith Balkus Tania Ochoa March 20 th , 2009 Environmental Science, Block 4 Mr. Fitzgerald. General information :. Scientific name : Vulpes macrotis mutica Geographic location : (California); San Joaquin Valley, Alameda, Kern County, Contra Costa.

liseli
Download Presentation

San Joaquin Kit Fox

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. San Joaquin Kit Fox Meredith Balkus Tania Ochoa March 20th, 2009 Environmental Science, Block 4 Mr. Fitzgerald

  2. General information: • Scientific name: Vulpes macrotis mutica • Geographic location: (California); San Joaquin Valley, Alameda, Kern County, Contra Costa. • Habitat: grasslands, scrublands • Food source: rodents such as black-tailed hares, desert cottontails, mice, kangaroo rats, squirrels, birds, lizards, etc. • Mating habits: • Mating season: December – March • Gestation: 48 – 52 days • Litter size: 3 – 5 pups • Care: Parents will care for pups until 4 – 5 months of age and capable of finding their own food. • Physical Characteristics: • 12 x 20 inches; (about the size of a house cat) • Big ears • Long, furry tail • Tan/yellow/grey-ish fur • Male: about 5 lbs

  3. Why is it endangered? • Geographic changes: • Development/industrial growth: expansion of houses and roads • Incongruent variations in environment – both grasslands and farms • General changes in the Central Valley • * The combination of such factors have made it difficult for the kit fox to find food and mates, death, illness, injury, etc. • Predation: • Preyed upon by coyotes and red foxes • Chemical usage: • Poisons used to kill rats, mice, etc. • Natural Causes: • Predation, starvation, flooding, drought. • Human-induced mortality: • Shooting, trapping, poisoning, electrocution, road kills, suffocation, etc.

  4. What’s being done to help: • The U.S. Department of the Interior placed the kit fox on the endangered species list in 1967 • The state of California placed the kit fox on the state’s endangered species list in 1971 • The Endangered Species Act requires U.S. federal government to care for/protect/determine and provide the habitat the species needs to survive for any species placed on the list. • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has standardized recommendations for protecting the kit fox during industrialization • Rules/guidelines to consider when industrializing in/nearby the fox’s habitat. • Speed limits of construction vehicles (20 mph at all times) • All construction objects prone to kit fox inhabitation need to be covered during night hours when kit foxes are most active. • Pipes, culverts, and other objects that resemble a kit fox den must be thoroughly inspected before being buried/used/capped/etc. • All trash must be disposed of and removed at the end of 1 week. • No firearms are allowed on the construction site. • No pets on project site (to prevent harassment of kit foxes). • Restriction of harmful chemicals. • Moderately helpful • Although these restrictions HAVE decreased the decreasing kit fox population, the industrial growth has not ceased, leading to further depletion.

  5. Our plan: • Increase public knowledge of the issue • Boycott the use of rodentcides and herbicides in habitats where the kit fox resides • “Adopt a kit fox “ • ... by donating to this website.

  6. Additional Photos:

  7. Bibliography • http://www.conservationinstitute.org/pcn/pcn_kit_fox.htm • http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/san_joaquin_kit_fox.php • http://esrp.csustan.edu/speciesprofiles/profile.php?sp=vuma

More Related