According to new research the San Nicolas Island fox, a subspecies of the Channel Island Fox, is now at low risk of extinction.
The research, published in Ecosphere, was conducted by a team of researchers from several universities that performed computer model projections based on fox population data. These models showed the fox going extinct in 50 years in only 2.5% of the simulations run.
Of course, these are just computer models, and real-world events may prove to be much different. But it at the very least lessens some of the concern many ecologists had over the San Nicolas Island fox’s future.
As reported in Environmental News Network:
“The San Nicolas Island fox, a subspecies of the Channel Island Fox only found on the most remote of California’s eight Channel Islands, is at a low risk of extinction, new research published last week in Ecosphere shows.
“In the past decade, the population of San Nicolas Island fox has decreased by nearly half, with just 332 foxes remaining in 2016.
The study, conducted by researchers from Montana State University, the University of Colorado and Naval Base Ventura County, predicted future fox population sizes assuming that current relatively dry environmental conditions persist. The foxes went extinct within 50 years in only 2.5% of the computer model’s simulations.”
To read the full story in Environmental News Network, click here.