Swift fox (Vulpes velox) pups and adult at a grasslands den site. Photo Credit: Keith Crowley, www.crowleyimages.com, Video: Defenders of Wildlife

Animals USA31. December 2022

Five Decades Later, These Foxes Are Back

As part of a five-year recovery program, more than a hundred swift foxes have been reintroduced into the tribal lands of Montana, United States, and monitoring shows that the newly implanted fox population is thriving as it reproduces in the wild.

“After being absent for more than 50 years, the swift fox has returned to the grasslands of Fort Belknap and our people could not be prouder,” exclaims Harold “Jiggs” Main, director of the Fort Belknap Fish and Wildlife Department.

The release of 28 swift foxes in 2022 brings the total of reintroduced small light orange-tan foxes to 103 in three years. Monitoring efforts include GPS collars installed on all the swift foxes to track their travels, and blood and fecal samples to follow their progress post-release. The original reintroduction of 27 foxes in 2020 led to four females and males pairing and the birth of 20 kits in the wild.

Source:
Defenders of Wildlife

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