Sierra Nevada Red Fox Research

Project overview: Use remote cameras, genetic analysis, and scientific models to inform strategies for saving the Sierra Nevada red fox, a rare subspecies believed to be on the edge of extinction. 

How your support helps: Sierra Nevada red foxes are uniquely adapted to life at high elevations, sporting thick coats and dense fur that transforms their paws into snowshoes. But being well-suited to a cold, snowy climate isn’t enough to protect this mammal. The fox, which was officially designated as an endangered species in 2021, is extremely rare in its namesake range. Biologists have counted startlingly few individuals in and around the park, and they believe the Yosemite-area population may vanish entirely without intervention.   

In early 2015, through a Conservancy-supported project, biologists reported the first sighting in 99 years of a Sierra Nevada red fox within Yosemite National Park’s boundary. Now, in order to shape an effective conservation plan, researchers are working to fill a range-wide gap in information about the fox’s population size and distribution.  

During the course of several years of Conservancy-funded work, researchers have used remote cameras, field surveys, and genetic analysis to study the Sierra Nevada red fox. Staff have gathered data to estimate the size and travel patterns of the Yosemite population. Currently, researchers believe there are 18 to 39 individuals across its range.  

This year: In 2025, your support will increase scientific understanding of Sierra Nevada red foxes in Yosemite and, ultimately, inform a comprehensive species-recovery plan. Staff will document species distribution in Yosemite using camera surveys, analyze genetic material from scat, and evaluate the effects of predators and prey on the species. 

Project partners: Yosemite National Park; California Department of Fish and Wildlife; Oregon State University; Rogue Detection Teams; and University of California, Davis