We recently told you all about the Sierra Nevada Red Fox. Since then an amazing discovery was made on August 11, 2010 by Forest Service wildlife biologists, Sherri Lisius, and Adam Rich in the area where the Humboldt-Toiyabe and Stanislaus National Forests and Yosemite National Park come together.
This summer the Forest Service has been conducting monitoring activities with motion sensitive cameras to detect the presence of fisher and martin, two forest carnivores known to frequent the High Sierra. While Checking photographs in August, they identified a photo believed to be that of a red fox. The last known sighting of a Sierra Nevada red fox in the Sonora Pass area was sometime in the 1920’s. The only known population of Sierra Nevada red fox occurs here in our Lassen Peak Region, approximately 150 miles north of this find.
Analysis of saliva found on the bait bag allowed UC Davis veterinary geneticists to identify it as originating from a Sierra Nevada red fox, distinct from the Lassen Peak population.
Wildlife biologists from the Forest Service, CDFG, and the University of California, Davis, will set-up additional monitoring stations to gather more information on the presence of Sierra Nevada red fox in the area of Sonora Pass. Learn more about this release by contacting Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Public Affairs Officer, Christie Kalkowski, at 775-355-5311. Learn more about the red fox at mountainvalleyliving.com. Search Sierra Nevada Red Fox by Melissa Wynn.
source: US Forest Service, Sparks, NV