Are there animals who are native to Catalina Island?
Animals which are considered “native” to the Island include Catalina Island gray fox (probably brought to the Island from other Channel Islands by Native Americans), small rodents such as mice, squirrels and the ornate shrew, bats, 6 kinds of snakes including Pacific rattlesnake, lizards, and tree frogs. Animals which are considered “introduced” (newcomers) include goats (most likely introduced in the early 1800s, rather than by the Spanish explorers who came much earlier, as is commonly thought), bison (1924), mule deer and wild boar (introduced to the Island in the 1930s), black buck antelope (1972), and bull frogs. Catalina also has many species of birds including the bald eagle which has been reintroduced to the Island through the Institute for Wildlife Studies Bald Eagle Project.
