Smile, you’re on camera!
It doesn’t happen very often, but every now and then an animal previously considered extinct comes out of hiding, surprising us all. And that’s exactly what happened when U.S. Forest Service cameras caught this critter on a motion-activated camera for the second time, confirming that Sierra Nevada red foxes have returned to northern California.
The Sierra Nevada red fox is one of the rarest, most elusive and least-known mammals in California and the United States. Once found throughout California’s mountains, the animal was thought to be extinct from the Southern Sierra Nevada for the past two decades.
Not only that, but experts believe there could be not just one, but a whole population of these foxes in the area. Forest Service wildlife biologist Diane Macfarlane said last week, “There’s enough diversity in the DNA that we think there is a fairly strong population there after not showing up in this isolated area for years and years.”
The sighting is exciting news for the critters once thought to be extinct, but it should also serve as a reminder: we have a responsibility to protect our endangered wildlife, and to prevent them from ever disappearing in the first place. Sometimes, we don’t get a second chance.
Learn more:
Read more about California’s “mountain fox.”
See how Defenders is working to keep wildlife from the brink of extinction.
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