{"content":[{"text":"ABSTRACT","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.089343,"width":0.106411,"height":0.020863999999999994}},{"text":"The Swift fox reintroduction program began in Canada in 1983, prior to this date a \n captive breeding colony of Swift fox was established at the Cochrane Ecological \n Institute. Captive bred animals have contributed 646 young to the releases vs 64 wild \n caught Swift fox trans-located from the United States. Because the Swift fox is \n extirpated in Canada and has substantially reduced numbers in the USA little is known \n of their social behaviour. It was postulated that their behaviour (living in social groups \n rather than independently) could significantly affect the reintroduction program. \n Observations were made on three groups of animals at the captive breeding colony, \n three sibling pairs in a 9 hectare enclosure, five aged animals in a 0.6 hectare enclosure \n and 22 breeding pairs in small enclosures. It was found that the Swift fox appeared to \n prefer live in groups, that rearing animals in larger enclosures resulted in more \n successful hunting habits, and that vocalisation played an important part in Swift fox \n breeding and survival. These findings have resulted in a change in the release strategy \n of the Swift fox to the wild, with new efforts being concentrated on building or adding to \n colonies in areas of suitable habitat rather than releasing smaller groups over wide \n areas of prairie.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.124369,"width":0.7647820000000001,"height":0.282181}},{"text":"KEY WORDS - extirpated species, Vulpes velox hebes, prairie, Alberta, Saskatchewan, \n Canada","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.420581,"width":0.764737,"height":0.03849400000000003}}],"images_bbox":[],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[]}