The Island Fox is a small fox that is native to six of the eight
Channel Islands of California. It is the smallest fox species in the
United States. There are six subspecies of the fox, each unique to the
island it inhabits, reflecting its evolutionary history. Introduced
diseases or parasites can decimate Island Fox populations. Because
Island Foxes are isolated they have no immunity to parasites and
diseases brought in from the mainland and are especially vulnerable to
those domestic dogs may carry. A canine distemper outbreak in 1998
killed approximately 90% of Santa Catalina Island's fox population. In
addition, Golden Eagle predation and human activities decimated fox
numbers on several of the Channel Islands in the 1990s. Four Island
Fox subspecies were federally protected as an endangered species in
2004, and efforts to rebuild fox populations and restore the
ecosystems of the Channel Islands are being undertaken.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_Fox
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1913:
Death Valley, California hit 134 °F (~56.7 °C) which is the highest
temperature recorded in the United States (as of 2004).
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley)
1985:
After a storm of controversy surrounding a change in its cola's
formula, Coca-Cola re-introduced the old formula as "Coca-Cola
Classic."
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke)
1998:
Catholic priests' sex abuse scandal: The Diocese of Dallas agreed to
pay USD 23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were
sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cases_of_child_sexual_abuse_in_the_Roman_Catho…)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"All that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combatted,
suppressed— only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more
triumphantly from the struggle." -- Nikola Tesla
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla)