Wildlife researchers at Mount Rainier National Park are hoping radio collars will help them better understand the movement of Cascade foxes and how they interact with visitors.
The project is designed to evaluate the behavioral responses of the foxes when they are fed by people, said Mason Reid, park wildlife ecologist.
Park staffers have been trying to address this persistent problem. For the last three summers, staffers and volunteers have held “Keep Wildlife Wild Day,” explaining the harm caused by feeding the park’s wildlife.
The Cascade fox is a rare species currently known to inhabit only Mount Rainier and Mount Adams. Many of the park’s Cascade foxes have learned to get food from people, “begging” along roadways and in Paradise-area parking lots, increasing the risk to both foxes and humans.
The research will evaluate the ecological impacts on these foxes as a result of human activities, and will enable park managers to better manage visitor use and protect the foxes, Reid said.
“The goal is to determine their spatiotemporal activities, and associate that with human use areas, primarily roadways and
parking areas,” he said. “The information obtained will be used to evaluate and direct wildlife-human conflict resolution, as well as to
develop long term monitoring strategies associated with visitor use management.”
The study is a cooperative effort between Mount Rainier National Park and the U.S. Geological Survey-Forestry and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center.
As part of the research, visitors may see radio collars on some foxes. Right now, Reid and his team have put collars on two foxes and hope to put them on three more. The collars automatically collect time and location information via GPS receivers. Programmed to record time and location at 3.5 hour intervals, the collars will provide information of how visitor use may alter the natural movements and habits of foxes. The plan is to collect data for almost a year, the time the collars last, Reid said.
The efforts to educate the public and enforce no-feeding laws will continue, he said.
“Results of this study will lead researchers to better understand human impacts and develop new ways of protecting the foxes and keeping our wildlife wild,” Reid added.
Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640 jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure
Big Apple big screen
Our already famous Mount Rainier is gaining some added fame with an appearance in New York’s Times Square.
The park is featured in one of two 15-second spots running for the next month on a 26-foot by 20-foot Jumbotron on 42nd Street. The videos are courtesy of longtime National Park Service partner, Eastern National, which operates nonprofit bookstores in more than 130 national parks across the nation.
“Millions of Americans will have an opportunity to see amazing images of these incredible parks that they own and maybe pick one or two to visit as they mull their New Year’s resolutions,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis in a prepared statement.
In addition to Mount Rainier, other parks featured include Katmai National Park & Preserve (Alaska), Grand Canyon National Park, Mount Rushmore National Memorial (South Dakota), Arches National Park (Utah) and Golden Gate National Recreation Area (California).
The clips also can be seen at eparks.com.
