Short Summary
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"What does the fox say?" A question millions have been wondering since the song from the group Ylvis went viral. Well, gray fox researcher Bill Leikam and conservation photographer Greg Kerekes just may have some answers for this mysterious and popular question. Their work has documented a group of urban foxes in Silicon Valley revealing not only what the fox says, but also how the foxes along with other animals are adapting to urban life.
My name is Beth Pratt and I am the California Director of the National Wildlife Federation and I am proud to be working with Bill and Greg to help protect Silicon Valley's wildside.
The goal of this campaign is to raise enough funds to continue their research and learn even more than what the fox says! Their objective is to eventually map, protect, and enhance the wildlife corridors that the foxes and other wildlife use to travel from one region to another. They hope to launch their first GPS Collaring project that will focus on the large gray fox population of the Palo Alto Baylands Preserve.
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That foxes romp anywhere in today's Silicon Valley seems a remarkable feat given the environmental history of the region and the mass urbanization over the last few decades. I recently visited the Facebook campus to see the gray foxes that decided to make the campus their home. Wildlife is already here in these urban settings and they are giving it their best efforts to adapt.
Urban spaces CAN provide a vital refugia for wildlife, but not without the research needed to understand how it is affecting the brave animals that stay behind!
As we are finally learning, our favored approach to conservation throughout history--where we preserve islands of habitat--hasn't worked well. Nature does not work without being connected and stand-alone protected areas are just not sufficient. Animals are even disappearing within national park boundaries, the best protected places on the planet!
Bill and Greg have a vision. Together they have formed the
Urban Wildlife Research Project (UWRP). Beyond studying the behavior of foxes and detailing scientifically important activities such as “fox kisses,” communal raising of young, and mating behaviors; they are charting something vital to the future of foxes and all wildlife in the Silicon Valley. They want to create a comprehensive San Francisco Bay Area Wildlife Corridor to ensure the protection of the region's natural heritage. Bill notes, "I think we are seeing some of the original ancient passageways are partially intact and that the animals in some cases are not giving up, even with cities moving into their areas."
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National Wildlife Federation is proud to announce a new partnership with UWRP to support their important research with gray foxes, burrowing owls, beavers and other area wildlife to map, extend, protect, and enhance the wildlife corridors that they use to travel from one region to another.
As the California director of NWF I want to help them see this dream through and it starts here with the funding to keep their research alive! What We Need & What You Get
Among many exciting projects this campaign will help fund a Gray Fox DNA study, around the baylands, through the urban creeks, and into the surrounding mountains, to look into the health of the Gray Fox population and determine which Urban creeks provide genetic linkage between the mountains and the Bay. This campaign will also help fund research in Coyote Valley a critical linkage between the Mt. Hamilton Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains
Here is what we need! $7000 that will go towards the following...
- DNA test kits to gain vital knowledge of the health and relationship of the Bay Area’s Gray Fox population.
- Trail cameras, Security cables/boxes, memory cards and batteries to monitor wildlife dispersal and behavior.
- Permit fees, biologist and veterinarian fees for GPS collaring study
- GPS collars to track the exact routes gray foxes take when looking for new territory during their Dispersal Period in the Fall and Winter.
- Supplies/ for Outreach and education programs.
We are offering many fun and unique ways to be involved with the study of these animals and the future of their success as a thriving species in the Silicon Valley!
If we do not reach our entire goal, the funds will be used towards any of the needs that we listed above until they are gone so that the study can flourish in at least one area.
The Impact
The ultimate goal that this campaign is working towards is creating connectivity and linkages for wildlife so that species can continue to live and thrive as humans continue to do the same. It is about living in harmony and unison with wildlife and incorporating nature into our lives as we urbanize.
I have great confidence that we can help achieve the goal of this project as well as with the overall goal of creating a corridor! Right now NWF is also a partner in the
#SaveLACougars campaign in Los Angeles. The goal of the project, to build what could be the largest wildlife crossing in the world over the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon, is vital to ensuring a future for mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains. Whether it is the foxes in Silicon Valley or the Mountain Lions in Los Angeles, all wildlife needs to be able to disperse to avoid isolation and potentially extinction! We have been meeting fundraising goals through many different platforms to hopefully create more linkages for wildlife in urban areas.
The Team
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Researcher Bill Leikam. Bill's nickname is The Fox Guy, and this is well earned. Having spent thousands of hours in the field observing, he is the Jane Goodall of the gray fox world, immersing himself in the study of urban foxes of Silicon Valley as fully as Jane did the Chimpanzees of Gombe.
His research partner, Greg Kerekes, is a wildlife conservation photographer and videographer, who's work captures the natural beauty and wildlife diversity of Silicon Valley, while educating the public to be stewards of their environment.
