Event: Two Special Dates for the Island Fox

Two Special Dates for the Island Fox

from Friends of the Island Fox

April offers two special days to see island foxes. Both the Los Angeles Zoo and the Santa Barbara Zoo are celebrating special events for Earth Day that shine a spotlight on California’s endangered island fox.

Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
Saturday and Sunday, April 18 & 19

“Celebrate Earth Day at the Zoo”

The L. A. Zoo will be highlighting California species during their Earth Day celebration. Friends of the Island Fox will be on hand to offer special activities both days.

• 11:30 Radio Tracking Demonstration
• 12:00 Island Fox Exhibit Talk
• 1:00 Radio Tracking Demonstration
• 1:30 Fox Health Check (See what the biologists do in the field and give a helping hand)
• 2:00 Island Fox Exhibit Talk in Spanish

We will be located near the island fox exhibit in the zoo. Come by, say ‘Hello’ and meet an island fox.

More on L.A. Zoo hours and directions: www.lazoo.org

Santa Barbara Zoo

Celebrate the opening of California Trails
Saturday, April 25, 2009

Come meet one of our favorite island foxes, Finnigan.

The Santa Barbara Zoo is opening their new California Trails exhibit complex. This $6 million construction project includes a renovation of the Channel Island fox exhibit and Condor Country - only the second zoo exhibit in America to display California condors.

Joining the island foxes and California condors are exhibits displaying desert tortoises, bald eagles and Rattlesnake Canyon. Rattlesnake canyon “showcases endangered reptiles and amphibians found in the Los Padres National Forest, including the red-legged frog. The [Santa Barbara] Zoo works in the field with the U. S. Forest Service to monitor this species, which has been decimated due to nonnative predators, such as bullfrogs, pollution, and habitat loss due to development. Western toads, now also facing habitat loss, are also displayed along with rattlesnakes, salamanders, newts, and other frogs.”

The renovated area also includes “the new Explore Store [which] demonstrates how buying "green" directly helps protect the habitats of these creatures, both around the world and in California.”

The new exhibits at the Santa Barbara Zoo offer an exciting opportunity to meet California’s native creatures. The special celebration on April 25th will also offer the chance to see Finnigan, the ambassador island fox. More about Finnigan.

For more information, hours and directions: www.santabarbarazoo.org

Come out and support these two zoos that have played an important role in aiding the island fox.