An account of the catastrophic decline and remarkable recovery of a fox species inhabiting only the California Channel Islands.

1. Introduction; 2. Evolution and genetics; 3. Social structure, reproduction, and population dynamics; 4. Food habits, habitat use, and activity patterns; 5. Golden eagles and island fox declines on the Northern Islands; 6. Ecosystem recovery on the Northern Islands: predators and prey; 7. Disease and island fox declines on Catalina Island; 8. Recovery actions: captive breeding; 9. Recovery actions: reintroduction and translocation; 10. Reproductive biology Cheryl S. Asa; 11. Diseases of island foxes Linda Munson; 12. The role of zoos, education, and the public in island fox recovery; 13. Managing recovery: cooperative conservation, politics, and the Endangered Species Act; 14. The ecological role of island foxes; 15. Conclusion; References.

Cathy Schwemm is a lecturer at California State University, Channel Islands in the Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, and runs her own ecological consulting company. She obtained her BS from Colorado State University, her MS from California State University, Northridge, and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Cathy worked for the National Park Service for nearly 20 years, including 14 years at Channel Islands National Park. In 1993 she began the island fox monitoring program for the Park Service, and has been a member of the Island Fox Conservation Working Group since 1999. In 2005 she and Dave Garcelon co-edited the Proceedings of the Sixth California Island Symposium. She currently serves on the board of directors of Friends of the Island Fox.