Swift Fox to Return to Badlands National Park: Public Comments Sought

Starting in fall of 2003, Badlands National Park plans to reintroduce another native mammal species to the park's prairie ecosystem: the swift fox. The project is a cooperative effort between Badlands National Park and the Turner Endangered Species Fund reintroduction project intended to help expand fox populations in South Dakota. Currently the only swift fox population in South Dakota exists in the extreme southwest portion of the state. Badlands National Park plans to translocate swift fox from Wyoming and release them into the park and the surrounding prairie ecosystem. The Turner Endangered Species Fund began a swift fox reintroduction this fall to a portion of west central South Dakota.

The swift fox is the smallest member of the North American canids (dog family), about the size of a large house cat. This nocturnal fox feeds on small mammals, insects, and ground nesting birds. Swift fox were historically common across the Great Plains of North America. With European settlement of the plains, swift fox populations began to decline in the late 1800s. Swift fox populations in the central and southern portions of the plains have recovered, but northern populations have been slower to bounce back to historic numbers. While reintroduction programs in Canada and Montana have expanded the northern range of the swift fox, more help is needed to link the fox populations on the plains.

The planning team at Badlands National Park is in the earliest stages of an Environmental Assessment for a swift fox reintroduction project. The park is seeking comments and concerns from the public. Please send comments to Badlands National Park, attn: Swift Fox Comments, PO Box 6, Interior, SD 57750 or electronically to badl_planning@nps.gov by December 1, 2002.