What is the Santa Barbara Zoo doing for the Island fox?
The Santa Barbara Zoo became involved in island fox conservation in 1999, first as a member of the Island Fox Conservation Working Group, and currently as a member of the Integrated Island Fox Recovery Implementation Team. Our objectives for this program are to assist in both ex situ (removing animal from threatened habitat) and in situ conservation work. For island fox recovery, this involves dedicating our Animal Care staff to time working on the islands in the captive facilities, providing emergency on call veterinary assistance, procuring and donating essential medical equipment, attending all necessary meetings, and working to increase mainland support for island fox recovery. On the Islands Our in situ work involves donating staff time and medical supplies to the captive facilities on the Islands. We have been assisting the NPS with captive fox caretaking on the Islands since 2000. Zoo staff are called to provide relief assistance to the NPS as primary fox technicians on the isla
