Above photo: Cascade red fox by Kevin Bacher/NPS.
The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a petition urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Cascade red fox under the Endangered Species Act. The Washington state foxes are threatened by climate change, small population size and a host of other threats.
“The cold, snowy landscapes where Cascade red foxes live are melting away before our very eyes and these animals and their homes need to be protected,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center. “For these foxes to have any future, we have to curb greenhouse gas pollution and protect more of the natural world, not only for their sake but for ours.”
Once found throughout high elevation areas of Washington’s Cascades, the foxes have been lost from the North Cascades, or about half their range. A small population of foxes survives in the state’s southern Cascades, centered on Mount Rainier National Park and several wilderness areas on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
In addition to climate change, Cascade red foxes are threatened by predation and disease, habituation to humans, poisoning, incidental hunting and trapping, habitat destruction and fragmentation due to logging, development and vehicle collisions. These threats are all magnified by the small size of their population. Scientists estimate that the foxes’ genetic diversity has dwindled to the equivalent of just 16 individuals.
“These pretty little foxes need the powerful protections of the Endangered Species Act to have any chance at survival,” said Greenwald. “With safeguards and monitoring, we can give the Cascade red fox a fighting chance in our warming world.”
Cascade red foxes come in three color phases — red, black or a cross between the two. They have bushy tails with white tips and are uniquely adapted to winter conditions with a dense coat and fur-covered paws that facilitate travel over snow.
The Center’s petition can be found here. https://biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/pdfs/Cascade-Red-Fox-Petition-Final-10-21-2024.pdf