Much has happened since our project began and we now find ourselves at an important threshold -- ready to release foxes! The South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks recently granted us the required permit to reintroduce foxes. Our plans to trap and release foxes this fall have been postponed while we wait for a permit from the South Dakota Animal Industry Board (see Animal Industry Considers Permit). Currently, we plan to hold foxes over the winter in preparation for a spring release. For now, we continue to work with neighbors, local and state producer groups and other cooperators in preparation for a public hearing, scheduled for January. We’re hopeful the Animal Industry Board will approve our plans so we can move forward into the next phase of swift fox restoration.

The swift fox is the smallest and least known of the North American wild dogs (Canidae), a family that includes wolves, coyotes, and foxes. Conversion of native prairie, over trapping, and poisoning of predators have all contributed to the great decline in swift foxes, once common throughout the grasslands of the Great Plains. The swift fox now faces a struggle to survive, eliminated from 70 to 90 percent of its historic U.S. range (Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming). Remaining populations exist in scattered and isolated pockets of short- and mid-grass prairies, mostly in Colorado and Wyoming. South Dakota lists the species as threatened (South Dakota Codified Law 34A-8) and is mandated to “manage, protect, and restore” the species. The South Dakota Natural Heritage Program has designated the species as “critically rare… in danger of extirpation in the state”. Historically foxes were found over the western two-thirds of South Dakota. The western half of the state still appears suitable for foxes. Today a small population is found only in Fall River and Shannon counties.

Native to South Dakota, swift foxes were, and remain, an important part of the unique biodiversity of the Great Plains grasslands. They may also serve a pivotal role in this biome as an umbrella species. Conserving large areas of intact, native grasslands capable of supporting healthy populations of swift foxes may at the same time provide an umbrella of protection for many other species requiring less space. Restoring swift fox is part of restoring native biodiversity to North America’s Great Plains.
What are swift foxes threatened by? At the turn of the last century it was mainly the loss of habitat as the prairie was modified by human settlement. Programs aimed at eradicating wolves and coyotes also killed many foxes. Today, the greatest threats come from deadly interactions with coyotes, whose populations have increased as wolves, their natural enemy, were eliminated. The loss of native prairie occurring mostly on private lands has also played a role in its decline. According to the Swift Fox Conservation Team (an interagency working group formed to direct the conservation the species) over 75% of remaining swift fox habitat occurs on private property. Today this important native landscape is quickly disappearing. Perhaps restoration efforts like those we propose for the Bad River Ranches, will help assure the long-term future of swift fox and other native wildlife here in South Dakota.