Reznet

Swift Foxes to Be Relocated to Eastern Montana

By the Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Officials in Montana plan to transplant about 30 swift foxes to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in an effort to boost fox numbers by linking populations of the small predator in Canada, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The foxes will be captured from areas near Whitewater and Chinook in north-central Montana and moved to the reservation in eastern Montana next month.

Leonard Bighorn, a wildlife technician for the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, says ultimately the goal is to establish a corridor from Canada to Texas.

"I just think they're an awesome animal," Bighorn told the Billings Gazette. "The Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes are talking about trying to do this work also, which would be awesome to establish this corridor and fill in this loop that used to go from Canada to Texas."

Small Animals Weigh About 5 Pounds

Swift foxes weigh only about 5 pounds but can run up to 25 mph. Their diet consists of small mammals, such as rodents and rabbits.

The foxes are nocturnal, spending most of their time underground in burrows to avoid predators such as coyotes, red foxes and raptors.

Swift foxes are native to the Great Plains but were killed off by poison intended for coyotes and wolves. Also, native prairies went into agricultural production, eliminating habitat for prairie dogs, ground squirrels and rabbits that the foxes prey on.

The foxes are now found in less than 40 percent of the their former range, and Montana officials estimate only about 500 are in the state.

Tribes Credited with Revival Effort

"Swift fox were pretty abundant in the days of Lewis and Clark," said Ryan Rauscher, a native-species biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Glasgow. "But quite a while ago (1969) they were declared extirpated in Montana."

But efforts have been made to restore populations.

"It's thanks to these tribes that we have the swift fox population growing in this state," said Jonathan Procter of Defenders of Wildlife. "The tribes have really been the leaders in the restoration of swift foxes across the Northern Plains."

Money for the work is coming from a $247,000, three-year grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the tribes are contributing in-kind services.