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Speak out against proposed hunting of Red Foxes

The Fish and Game Commission will be voting on August 27 in Morro Bay on whether to initiate hunting/trapping of the non-native red fox north of San Francisco/Sacramento. They will also be voting on whether to almost double the trapping season on bobcats throughout the state.

Please join us in speaking up for two beloved animals who can not speak for themselves: THE RED FOX AND THE BOBCAT.

The Fish and Game (F&G) proposal establishes for the first time a trapping and hunting season for the non-native red fox in the northern part of the state, excluding the Sierras and Cascades where the native red fox lives. This would allow hunters and trappers to kill unlimited numbers of red foxes (The trapping of red fox to protect endangered birds and other threatened or endangered species is already allowed). According to F&G this new proposal is to "provide additional hunting and trapping opportunity and to control the spread of and possibly reduce the nonnative red fox population."

Yet, a 1992 F&G report states that "the population of non-native foxes in California is not known." F&G focuses only on negative aspects of this species and does not address its role of aiding ranchers, farmers, and property owners by controlling ground squirrels, pocket gophers, rabbits, and other rodents.

Nor does it address the role of the red fox as an important seed spreader within its plant communities. F&G does not address the problem of hunters mistakenly killing the native gray fox, since leg and tail tip colors are the only reliable ways to differentiate the two species.

As an alternative, we urge Fish and Game to continue to control the non-native red fox on a case-by-case basis, focusing only on areas where they pose a significant threat. This approach has worked well to protect endangered birds in the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge and Bolsa Chica State Ecological Reserve. In fact a F&S report states that "control in localized areas is all that can realistically be undertaken." Opening up hunting/trapping in such a large area is simply overkill.

Take Action TODAY!

Please also show your support by attending and testifying at the “Adoption Hearing” in Morro Bay. The trophy hunters/fur trappers will be well-represented. The red fox and bobcat will not be there. It is up to us to stand up and speak for their lives and for the kind of world we want to live in.

California Fish & Game Commission Hearing :

August 27, 2004

Friday 8:30am Veterans Memorial Building, 209 Surf Street, Morro Bay

For more information about the public hearings, agenda or comment process please visit the Fish & Game Commission website at www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm, or phone 916-653-4899, or email fgc@dfg.ca.gov.