Rare Sierra Nevada Red Fox Caught on Camera in Stunning Footage
A California wildlife photographer has captured something extraordinary: three uninterrupted minutes of high-definition footage showing the elusive Sierra Nevada red fox — considered the rarest mammal in the state.
Randy Robbins, recently featured in GNN‘s 2024 Wildlife Photography Awards roundup, has been on a determined three-year mission to document this near-mythical creature on camera. Unlike its more common lowland relatives, the Sierra Nevada red fox is a distinct subspecies that lives at elevations above 6,000 feet. Biologists estimate there may be fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild.
“We’re just a couple of generations away from these foxes dying out due to inbreeding,” Robbins told Fox Weather. “Telling their story and getting the word out is important — because people care. People want them to be saved.”
To catch a glimpse of the red fox, Robbins relied on camera traps — a crucial tool given the animal’s reclusive nature and rugged alpine habitat. But placing the cameras in the right location required meticulous research into the fox’s behavior and movement patterns.
Last winter, Robbins placed one of his cameras on a remote ledge in Lassen Volcanic National Park, one of the last remaining habitats for the subspecies. He noticed a line of rocks across a ravine — a natural trail he believed the foxes used to cross the snowy terrain.
At 8,500 feet, the camera was destined to be buried in snow for months. So Robbins picked a high vantage point, set the camera to record, and hiked back down the mountain. He returned in June, after the snow had melted, to retrieve it.
What he found surpassed all expectations.
In the footage, the Sierra Nevada red fox casually strolls into the frame, sniffs the snow, gazes across the white-draped landscape, and then — in a rare moment of peace — sits down to bask in the sunlight. For three whole minutes, it simply exists: alert, calm, and entirely at home in the high alpine wild.
“It was really amazing,” Robbins said. “Normally, you get a quick glimpse — a fox darting across the screen. This was three minutes of just pure behavior — lounging in the sun and just, you know, being a fox.”