A few recovering populations of Island fox are being considered for removal from the federal endangered species list.
The animals' recovery is the fastest of any mammal in the nation under the Endanger Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to delist three subspecies of the Island Fox from the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife.
They're native to the Channel Islands of San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz. They were listed more than 10 years ago, but due to robust restoration plans the foxes are back to self-sustaining levels.
Steve Henry is the with Fish and Wildlife in Ventura and said part of the proposal is a monitoring plan.
"We're keeping tabs on these Island Fox populations, so that if there is a decrease, we become quickly aware of that and be able to react to that new threat, in a quick manner such that they don't become endangered, " said Henry.
The Service said it is also proposing to improve the status for the fox subspecies on Catalina Island.
