• The Catalina Invasive Plant Program (CIPP) is our 20-year island-wide defense system.
• We monitor high-traffic areas like trailheads and roads for early outbreaks, then act quickly.
• Staff, volunteers and contractors are trained for early detection and rapid response.
• This program has prevented dozens of new species from becoming established, saving years of future effort and cost.

• Every year, we capture and check hundreds of foxes across the Island to monitor their health and prevent disease outbreaks.
• Each fox is weighed, vaccinated and treated for parasites.
• Some receive radio collars that send out signals to alert us to illness or injury, allow us to respond quickly.
• These protections are critical to preventing another event like the 1999 distemper outbreak that nearly wiped them out.

Disease Surveillance and Biosecurity

• Blood samples are collected to test for distemper, rabies, parvovirus and other diseases that could devastate the fox population.
• Samples are sent to Cornell University and UC Davis to track virus exposure in the fox population.
• This data also supports state and federal reporting and informs our annual conservation actions.
• All findings feed into an annual adaptive management cycle reviewed by federal and state agencies.

Fox Hotline and Community Reporting

• A public fox hotline lets residents and visitors report sick or injured foxes.
• Our team investigates each case, and in many instances, it’s the public that helps us detect problems early.
• This community-driven system has already helped us reduce suffering and increase response time.

• Bird surveys and monitoring are critical to understand how ecosystems have changed over time since certain species indicate positive or negative changes over time.
• Using remote devices and technology, we can document species present or absent in certain areas.
• There are 34 audio devices recording bird sounds to detect species on the Island.

• The Catalina shrew is tiny, elusive and only found on this Island. It depends on leaf litter and moist, shaded habitat.
• We use camera traps and, when funding is available, live pit traps (5-gallon bucket buried in the ground) to detect them and track how restoration efforts affect their survival.
• Their presence signals whether native ground cover is coming back in critical microhabitats.
• Only a few dozen have ever been recorded, making every detection critical.

• Catalina’s deer mice, harvest mice and ground squirrels are unique subspecies, but haven’t been studied in decades due to lack of resources in managing invasive plant and animal species.
• By surveying them across the Island, we can track whether restoration is helping native species at the base of the food web.
• All captured animals are safely tagged, released and monitored.

• Catalina has more native reptiles and amphibians than any other Channel Island, including kingsnakes, chorus frogs and rattlesnakes.
• These species rely on healthy soil, ground cover and freshwater, all of which are affected by invasive species and habitat degradation.
• We survey native and invasive amphibians and reptiles (including invasive bullfrogs, which threaten native frogs and salamanders).

• Butterflies and moths are important pollinators and indicators of healthy habitat.
• Surveys at 20 sites use DNA barcoding, traps and host plant observations to track biodiversity and changes over time.
• These surveys show how native plant restoration benefits insects, and the many animals that rely on them.
• At least six species are only found on Catalina.

• The removal of invasive deer is the only option for island restoration following review of multiple alternatives.
• Invasive mule deer were introduced to Catalina in the 1920s and now severely over browse native plants and eat seedlings before they can re-establish.
• Based on community feedback, we have removed aerial shooting of invasive mule deer.
  • Instead, the primary removal method will be carried out by professionals on-the-ground.
• The plan will be conducted with the highest standards of safety and humane practice over multiple years. This will not happen overnight.
• The project’s methods are designed for complete population removal and follow the stringent guidelines set by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) for humane handling and depopulation.