Listed by the state as endangered in Colorado since 1994, the kit fox is considered one of our most vulnerable animals. Continued loss of habitat to development and agricultural conversion, ongoing drought, and poor management of the sagebrush ecosystem have taken a devastating toll, reducing kit foxes in Colorado to only about 100 individuals in the shrublands between Montrose and Grand Junction. Because the sagebrush habitat is so fragmented and degraded, while coyotes have fared relatively well, kit foxes are barely hanging on. We are working hard to restore the health of these habitats, and the eventual return of the wolf may also help reduce coyote populations, but in the meantime kit foxes are suffering from extremely high levels of predation by coyotes and other wildlife.

The diminutive kit fox of the desert southwest weighs only 3.5 to five pounds (about the size of a full-grown jackrabbit). They closely resemble the more common swift fox, found on the eastern plains of Colorado, but have larger ears and a more angular appearance. Kit foxes generally live in small groups, digging clusters of dens with multiple entrances. The dens are scattered around the landscape and are extremely important for raising young and avoiding coyotes and other predators. Kit foxes prey primarily on cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, and kangaroo rats, but will also eat birds, reptiles, and insects when other prey is scarce.

In the summer of 2005, Center for Native Ecosystems and the Bureau of Land Management constructed and installed 12 dens and 42 “quick escape tunnels” for the kit foxes in their habitat near Grand Junction. The openings to the dens and tunnels are large enough to allow kit foxes to enter but too small for coyotes and other predators. We built the dens and tunnels using inexpensive materials like small igloo dog houses and plastic tubing. This was an exciting opportunity to collaborate with the BLM in doing critical on-the-ground conservation for an endangered Colorado native, and since we installed the dens and tunnels BLM staff have found kit fox droppings and rabbits and other small mammals (good kit fox prey) in and near the tunnels.