The San Joaquin Kit Fox is a needed species  in the San Joaquin Valley. This small creature, weighing only about 5 pounds does so much to keep its  ecosystem  in check. This precious species is dying out, it needs your help! The San Joaquin Kit Fox is a  keystone species to the San Joaquin Valley environment, along with this the Kit Fox plays a big role to larger species like the non-native red fox and coyote. Although these two species prey on the Kit Fox, they would not be able to strive the way they do without the Kit Fox present. Without the Kit Fox these other two species will be more likely to prey on pets such as cats and dogs (Clark, 2013). They would run wild throughout the valley, and would most likely not have a safe area to stay and sleep. The Kit Fox creates dens that are not sustainable in the long run, after a brief amount of time staying there, they leave and create a new one due to the shelter no longer providing what is needed for the Kit Fox. Species like the red fox and the coyote take the den that was abandoned by the Kit Fox and claim it as their own.

    The Kit Fox is also a key factor of the food chain. By eating smaller creatures like ground squirrels, gophers, birds, lizards, kangaroo rats, several small rodents species, grasses, and vegetation the Kit Fox is controlling populations  which keeps the ecosystem in check and consistent. The San Joaquin Kit Foxes are  omnivores (Vaughn, 2002). As omnivores, the Kit Fox is not only a pest controller but also a gardener of many plants such as common grasses found throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Without the Kit Fox, small species that these foxes prey on will expand their population and likely grow in great amounts, which would affect the amount of biodiversity in the San Joaquin Valley.

    Without the Kit Fox, the San Joaquin Valley’s ecosystem will lose very much biodiversity and will potentially lose several other populations of animals or the populations of other species such as plants will increase greatly. The Kit Fox might not be a keystone specie to all animals living in the San Joaquin Valley, but that doesn’t mean this fox isn’t important. No matter how small a species is or the importance of the role it plays in an ecosystem, every species adds biodiversity and instrumental value to this earth (Shah, 2014).

 The Kit Fox is an adorable, yet very helpless, species that deserves to be giving a chance. This species claimed the land of the San Joaquin Valley long before we did, and should be greatly considered before bulldozing their  habitat once more. No matter what companies say as they destroy the San Joaquin Valley, this Kit Fox deserves to live. Although this creature is small, it plays a big role in our ecosystem; every creature has a purpose no matter their size, and they all deserve to find it.

The San Joaquin kit fox was originally found throughout most of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. However, the kit fox is now found only on the edges of the San Joaquin Valley from southern Kern County up to Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin Counties on the west and up to Stanislaus County on the east, and a few populations exist within the Valley floor.