Only 50 of these foxes are left. Calif. scientists just managed to catch one.

"The population of an elusive fox species that roams the Sierra Nevada likely only has about 50 individuals left. Biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife finally captured and attached a GPS collar to one of these rare foxes near Mammoth Lakes in January. They've been trying to trap one in the Sierra for years. After giving the fox a collar, the scientists set it free."

""This represents the culmination of 10 years of remote camera and scat surveys to determine the range of the fox in the southern Sierra, and three years of intensive trapping efforts," Julia Lawson, an environmental scientist for the CDFW, said in a statement. "... Our goal is to use what we learn from this collared animal to work toward recovering the population in the long term.""

""I would say this is significant because it expands our knowledge of where they occur and what habitat they are currently using," he told SFGATE. "They found this fox considerably south of where the animals are known to survive currently. If they are spreading out, it indicates that they have a better chance of survival.""

The population of the Sierra Nevada red fox likely numbers only about 50 individuals. Biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife captured and attached a GPS collar to one fox near Mammoth Lakes in January after years of trapping attempts. Tracking the collared fox will reveal movements, range, and habitat use to inform recovery actions. The capture followed a decade of remote camera and scat surveys and three years of intensive trapping. The foxes are extremely cautious and avoid people. Finding one considerably south of previously known areas suggests potential range expansion, which could improve survival prospects. The subspecies has low genetic diversity after historical declines from hunting and trapping.

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