Working to Conserve the Island Grey Fox in California, USA

BP is providing sponsorship to the Nature Conservancy to support research and a conservation and recovery programme for the island fox.

The Channel Islands, off the Californian coast, are home to the island fox. This very rare creature has evolved into a separate species from the larger mainland grey fox, but is now in serious danger of extinction. It faces many threats to its survival but, chiefly, the tiny island fox population is declining because of predatory golden eagles, which are not native to the Channel Islands.

BP is providing sponsorship to the Nature Conservancy to support research and a conservation and recovery programme for the island fox. This includes comprehensive monitoring to determine population and mortality rates, and a captive breeding and recovery programme that will lead, it is hoped, to an increase in the island fox population.