The Santa Catalina Island Fox is the smallest known fox species. While the animal is on the endangered species list, the animals population is rebounding strongly and is now believed to number 1,700 animals.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering removing the animal from the Endanger Species List, though it’s doubtful that the animal could ever be less than ‘at risk’. The Fox only lives in one place, a small island 22 miles from the Southern California mainland.

“We’re getting close,” Julie King, director of conservation and wildlife management at the Catalina Island Conservancy, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

In 2014, biologists captured 342 animals and only 19 were pups. In 2013 68 pups were counted out of 362 captured animals.

“It may be that the fox population is regulating itself in the face of higher population densities and reduced abundance of prey such as mice due to the ongoing drought,” said King.

in 1999 the fox population stood at a fairly robust 1,342. In 2000, only 100 of the animals remained. The rapid decline was caused by a single stowaway raccoon with a case of distemper.

As their population grows, however, the animals are being confronted with a new threat; increasing interaction with the human population of the 76 square mile island and the more than 1 million annual tourists.

On the small, warm island the animals have few dangerous natural obstacles to overcome and no natural predators.

“The recovery of the island fox is one of the great success stories of ecological restoration. But with no natural predators, this little fox is the king of beasts on Catalina — and that can get it into trouble. I once honked the horn long and loud to get one out from under my car. It didn’t budge,” said Dave Garcelon, president of the Institute for Wildlife Studies, a nonprofit research organization.

“In 2014, at least 21 foxes died after being struck by vehicles; two drowned in uncovered water containers; one was fatally mauled by an unleashed dog; and one perished after ingesting rat poison, the Catalina Island Conservancy said. The underlying cause of death of nine additional foxes, many of them found near roadside trash cans, was listed as unknown,” according to Louis Sahagun of the Los Angeles Times.

The Catalina Island Conservancy has responded by raising funds for “animal proof” trash cans and installing “fox crossing” signs to remind motorists to keep an eye out.

The Santa Catalina fox (Urocyon littoralis catalinae) is a subspecies of Island Fox. They are a bit like Darwin’s finches of the galapagos islands.
The foxes live on six of the eight Channel Islands of California and each of the six islands has its own subspecies of fox. Despite their separation, the foxes are closely related enough to interbreed.

In 2014, four of the six species (the Santa Cruz island fox, Santa Rosa island fox, San Miguel island fox and the Santa Catalina island fox) were listed as endangered by the U.S. government. As of 2013 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the entire species as near threatened. However, that status is a marked improvement over their previous listing as “critically endangered”.

The foxes are tiny, averaging 18-20 inches in length and four to six inches in height with a tail between four and 11 inches. The animals have pointed noses, reddish ears and feet, and black-tipped tails and mate for life.