Latest news with #CaliforniaLivingMuseum
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
CALM to host 3rd Annual Breakfast with the Bears
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The California Living Museum is set to host its third annual Breakfast with the Bears event in late June. The event is scheduled for June 29 at the California Living Museum starting at 7:30 a.m., according to officials. During the event, guests are invited to join the bears at the bear enclosure for juice and Smith's Bakery doughnuts. CALM bears Cinnamon and Louie are scheduled to enjoy treats and enrichment items at 8 a.m. Entry to the Breakfast with the Bears, juice and doughnut are complimentary with the purchase of normal admission. Click here to purchase a ticket in advance. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘They'll just have to watch it die': Federal funding freeze has future of San Joaquin Kit Fox population in limbo
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — For months, there's been little clarity on the future of federal funding to numerous programs. But one unexpected population being hit? The San Joaquin Kit Fox. 'We're very lucky to have a population of endangered foxes living amongst us,' said Erica Kelly, a wildlife biologist with the Endangered Species Recovery Program. The San Joaquin Kit Fox is no stranger to Kern County. As Kelly says, they're born in Bakersfield and die in Bakersfield. It's a subspecies of the kit fox, the smallest member of the dog family in North America. Trump orders agencies to 'sunset' environmental protections 'It used to be people saying 'Oh, I see foxes all the time everywhere,' and now, everyone for the most part says 'Oh, I used to see them,'' Kelly said. The San Joaquin Kit Fox has been an endangered species since 1967. 'They're small, about four to six pounds,' Kelly noted. She said there's about 3,000 to 5,000 total of them left, with a few hundred in Bakersfield. 'People do worry that they're dangerous, and they're not … They eat rodents and insects [if not digging through trash cans],' Kelly noted. Coyotes are the kit foxes' number one predator, then domestic dogs. Then in 2013 came along mange — a deadly skin disease caused by mites — which decimated the population, as Kelly put it. It's transmittable among foxes and causes hair loss and thick crusts all over the body. 'They get itchy to the point where they will chew through their skin to the bone,' Kelly said. 'They can't maintain their body temperature, and then they can't get enough food … they have open sores all over their body.' Kelly said she hasn't seen a fox recover on its own and that they'll die within three months, if untreated. Proposed rule change on endangered species triggers alarm for environmentalists Foxes needing care are taken into rehabilitation by the California Living Museum (CALM). But as of March, the primary source of funding that's allowed Kelly and her team to rescue kit foxes has been frozen. 'We're still responding to cases as best we can, but even then, in a few weeks, I don't know what that will look like,' Kelly said of the ominous reality. Funding for the Endangered Species Recovery Program overseen by California State University, Stanislaus — has come from the federal government since 1992. With the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's conservation projects domestically and internationally being halted, kit foxes may now pay the price. 'We are moving into a storage unit. Our staff has all been laid off,' Kelly said of her team, adding that their group of five are the only ones locally authorized to handle and interact with kit foxes. Kelly says volunteers and Bakersfield residents report sick foxes. But now? 'They'll just have to watch it die,' Kelly said of the worst-case scenario. And with these foxes being so urbanized — living in dens near buildings like CSUB, for instance? Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'They will die on people's front lawns, at your school …' Kelly stated, adding that these mammals favor open areas, open fields, undeveloped land and stormwater drainages and have learned to coexist with residents. Kelly also explained that federal funding was used to research the mange infection, including looking for cures. But there's just no way to stop it, Kelly pointed out. Funding has also allowed her team for 10 years to conduct a yearly summer study — installing cameras in Bakersfield and Taft to survey the kit fox population and activity. Kelly and the larger CSUS ESRP team have sent a letter to San Joaquin Valley congressional members including Hanford Republican David Valadao, asking for assistance. Kelly's last day is in late May. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
