10 Santa Cruz Island fox pups released into wild

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Workers from the Nature Conservancy and Channel Islands National Park gather on Santa Cruz Island on Monday to release 10 young island foxes raised in captivity in the continuing effort to restore the species, which was threatened by disease and golden eagles. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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A convoy takes the foxes to the backcountry of the island for release. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Workers from the nonprofit Institute for Wildlife Studies carry cages containing the young foxes, which are about the size of a small house cat. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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A fox is reluctant to leave its cage. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Dave Garcelon, a biologist with the Institute for Wildlife Studies, holds a fox just before it was set loose into wooded canyons. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Garcelon is involved in the effort to restore the endangered foxes back to Santa Cruz Island. The 10 pups released into the wild were the last of a group reared in captivity. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Matt Kling, a field worker for the Institute for Wildlife Studies, helps coax a young fox out of its container (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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A pup takes off into the wild. The young foxes will have access to feeding stations containing dog food over the next month to ease the transition from captivity. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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The fox population on the island has rebounded with the help of the breeding program, launched in 2003. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Oct. 10, 2007 12 AM PT

From the Associated Press

Ten Santa Cruz Island fox pups have been released into the wild, the last of a group reared in captivity as part of an effort to restore the endangered species.

The pups scurried into wooded canyons Monday in the middle of the 96-square-mile island off the Ventura County coast, said Tim Coonan, a biologist with the National Park Service.

There were once 1,500 foxes, but their numbers dwindled to as few as 80 because of pigs and turkeys brought to the island by ranchers. The pigs and turkeys provided prey for golden eagles, which also began feeding on the foxes.

The island fox population has since rebounded to more than 300 with the help of the breeding program, Coonan said. About 85 foxes have been raised in captivity and released since 2003.

“This is the final stage of the captive breeding program,” Coonan said. “The island foxes themselves are going to recover the population, and they will only increase from here.”

The released pups were born in the spring and over the next month will have access to feeding stations containing dog food to ease the transition.

Their parents, about 10 foxes, will be released in a month.