Fox eradication effort nears completion on Alaska islands
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Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A decades-long campaign to wipe dozens of Alaska islands clean of invasive arctic foxes is close to wrapping up with an eradication campaign this summer on a large, uninhabited island.
The work on Chirikof Island nabbed 236 adult foxes. That brings to 45 the number of larger Alaska islands where arctic, or red foxes in some cases, have been trapped or shot since 1949 in an effort to restore the habitat for native species, including migratory birds.
The work was done by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and the Agriculture Department’s Wildlife Services.
Refuge biologist Steve Ebbert says trappers will return to Chirikof next summer to look for foxes.
Ebbert says three islands with non-native arctic foxes remain in the Aleutians chain west of Chirikof.
The foxes are native to other parts of Alaska.