Red Fox
(Vulpes vulpes) - Aukpilaqtaq
Updated January 2008
Population Status
Distribution: Red foxes (includes silver fox and cross fox) occur throughout the Yukon yet are found sparingly on the Yukon coastal plain and on Herschel Island.
Population size: An average of fewer than 2 natal dens was found per year during systematic surveys from 1984 to 1988.
Population trend: Unknown.
Unique or special characteristics:
- The red fox is a relatively recent immigrant to the Arctic.
Habitat Features
Red foxes are habitat generalists, exploiting a diversity of prey across a wide range of habitats. On the Yukon North Slope their diet was found to be similar to Arctic foxes. It is unknown whether red foxes and Arctic foxes can successfully coexist at moderate to high densities. Habitat limitations are unknown for the red fox on the North Slope. Adequate denning habitat may limit the red fox in the same way it does the Arctic fox on the Yukon North Slope.
Harvest
Inuvialuit:Inuvialuit have exclusive rights to harvest furbearers on the Yukon North Slope.
Very few red foxes are believed to be trapped on the Yukon North Slope. From 1988 to 1999 Inuvialuit harvest data was collected through the Inuvialuit Harvest Study. In the period from 1988 to 1997, the average annual harvest reported by Aklavik residents was 81. Almost all of the annual reported harvest is believed to have been taken away from the Yukon North Slope. The Yukon Government, in partnership with the Aklavik HTC, has been collecting furbearer harvest data from Inuvialuit residents of Aklavik since 2001. Harvest information recorded includes species, date, location, sex and maturity of the animal. Funding and support for the collection of harvest data is supplied through the IFA and other agencies.
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Inuvialuit harvesting rights to red fox
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Ivvavik National Park
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exclusive
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Herschel Island Territorial Park
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exclusive
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East of the Babbage River
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exclusive
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Adjoining NWT
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exclusive
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Others: Regulations under Yukon Wildlife Act, NWT Wildlife Act and National Parks Act apply in their respective jurisdictions.
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Other resident harvesting
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Ivvavik National Park
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none permitted
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Herschel Island
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none permitted
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East of the Babbage River
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none permitted
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Adjoining NWT
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none permitted
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Eco-tourism
Red foxes, like Arctic foxes, habituate well to people and are loyal to den sites.
Threats
Habitat loss of restricted denning areas.
Species at Risk Status
Yukon: none
COSEWIC: none
CITES: none
General Status: Secure
Research and Monitoring
Population monitoring: There is no annual monitoring of red foxes or their dens. There is an ongoing program to record species observed on Herschel Island.
Research: Information about red foxes was collected incidental to research on Arctic foxes from 1984-1990.
Management
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Occurrence in jurisdictional areas
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Ivvavik National Park
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Hershel Island Territorial Park
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East of the Babbage River
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Adjoining NWT
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International agreements/ management plans
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none
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Applicable legislation
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IFA
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Yukon Wildlife Act
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National Parks Act
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NWT Wildlife Act
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Lead enforcement agencies
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Ivvavik National Park
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Parks Canada
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Herschel Island Territorial Park
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YTG
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East of the Babbage River
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YTG
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Adjoining NWT
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GNWT
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To meet conservation goals of the IFA, the co-management bodies are mandated to determine and recommend (to the Government of Yukon, GNWT and Parks Canada) a total allowable harvest and/ or promote research, if and when required.
Community-based Information
In 2003, the Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) and the Aklavik Hunters and Trappers Committee undertook a project to record traditional knowledge of certain birds and animals on the Yukon North Slope. The observations, comments and concerns expressed by Aklavik residents as part of this study were as follows:
· More coloured foxes are seen on the southeast compared to the northwest side of the North Slope.
· Numbers are low now, but were high in 1998, and vary between years.
· Tracks are frequently seen on spring bear hunts, mostly inland in foothills and mountains.
· Sick animals are occasionally trapped and one was found dead near a cabin.
Community-based information on this species may also be found in the reports of the annual community-based monitoring program conducted in Aklavik and neighbouring communities by the Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Co-op.
http://www.taiga.net/coop/community/index.htmlRelated Literature and Information Sources
Jingfors, K. 1989. Wildlife of Northern Yukon National Park, Chapter 9 in: Northern Yukon National Park resource description and analysis. Natural Resource Conservation Section, Canadian Parks Service, Prairie and Northern Region, Winnipeg.
Joint Secretariat, 2003. Inuvialuit Harvest Study, Data and Methods Report 1988 – 1997. Inuvik, NT. http://www.fjmc.ca/publications/IHS.htm
Jung, T. 2007. Personal communication, Government of Yukon, Department of Environment.
Maraj, R. 2007. Personal communication, Government of Yukon, Department of Environment.
Smits, C., B. Slough and C. Yasui. 1989. Summer food habits of sympatric Arctic foxes and red foxes in the northern Yukon Territory. Canadian Field Naturalist 103 (3):363-367.
Smits, C. and B. Slough, 1993. Abundance and summer occupancy of arctic fox, Alopex lagopus, and red fox, Vulpes vulpes, dens in the northern Yukon Territory, 1984-1990. Canadian Field Naturalist. 107(1) pp. 13-18.
Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) and the Aklavik Hunters and Trappers Committee. 2003. Aklavik Inuvialuit describe the status of certain birds and animals on the Yukon North Slope, March, 2003. Final Report. Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope), Whitehorse, Yukon.
Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) 1999. Yukon North Slope research review tables. http://www.taiga.net/wmac/researchplan/furbearers/redfox.html
