The Lower Brule Sioux Reservation lies on the western bank of the Missouri River in central South Dakota. The 221,646-acre Reservation has historically been home to an abundance of wildlife. The Lower Brule Sioux people have been part of this rich web of life for generations.
The swift fox (Vulpes velox), once abundant throughout the Great Plains, was distributed from southeastern Alberta southward into the Texas Panhandle and from the Rocky Mountains eastward to the western edge of the tall-grass prairie. They were nearly extirpated from the Plains by 1900. The decline was attributed to predator and rodent control programs involving the use of poisons, trapping, and hunting, and to the destruction of native prairie habitat.
In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) determined that the swift fox warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act and placed the species on the candidate list. However, in the 2001 Annual Candidate Notice of review, the USFWS estimated the swift fox remains in approximately 40% of its range, the species is more abundant and widespread than previously thought and therefore the swift fox was removed from the candidate list.
Physical characteristics of swift foxes include its small size (12-12.5 inches in height; 31 inches in total length; 5.0-5.4 pounds in weight), large ears, black muzzle patches, buffy tan coloration and black-tipped tail. It is the smallest of the canid species. Swift fox are primarily nocturnal, highly fossorial (i.e. closely associated with underground den sites), and very fast.
Swift fox are considered an opportunistic predator. They feed on small mammals, insects, reptiles, carrion, and ground nesting birds. Small mammals are especially important, particularly in winter months.
Habitat characteristics of swift fox vary but are generally characterized as flat to gently rolling short and mixed grass prairies. However, swift fox have also been documented inhabiting areas with a mixture of agricultural cropland and prairie grassland and are even considered abundant in the cultivated cropfields of Kansas.
All of South Dakota was historically considered as part of the range of the swift fox. The swift fox remains listed as state threatened in South Dakota. Swift fox are considered extirpated from the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation.
 |
 Teams from the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Department of Wildlife, Fish and Recreation travel to western Kansas to live trap swift fox. There is on going tremendous cooperation from Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and landowners. The team has made return trips to Kansas since the first in 2006 to trap live swift fox to reintroduce them on the reservation. To date, approximately 100 swift fox have been released on the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation. |
 Here Shaun Grassel (r) and technician Dalton Grassel (r) vaccinate a captured swift fox. The fox are vaccinated for a number of canine diseases and blood is taken to test for a variety of possible maladies. Once all the tests come back clear, the foxes are transported north to the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation in central South Dakota and released. |
 After being transported to the reservation, the swift fox are paired up and placed in outdoor pens in areas of good habitat on the reservation. The enclosures are designed so the foxes eventually dig their way to freedom. Artificial burrows, made from buried pipe, have been put in place to give them ready-made dens to rest and to escape from predators such as coyotes. |
 The swift fox is culturally significant to the Lakota people. The Swift Fox Society was a policing society centered on protecting camp life and hunting activities. The swift fox was a symbol of strength and courage. Returning these fox to their ancestrial home on the reservation will be a historical occasion.
|
You can support the reintroduction of the swift fox through your tax-deductible donation to the Maka Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit. Donations can be marked, “For the Fox” and mailed to the Maka Foundation, or may be made from a secure link on this website's "Donate Now" page.
Those interested in participating in this project’s fieldwork first-hand are invited to contact Maka Foundation.
|
|
|
|
|
