Saving the foxes

Re: “Once extinct, swift fox is making a comeback,” Aug. 4.

I read with some dismay your article on the swift fox, as it made no mention of a critical part of the success of the program — Miles, Beryl and Clio Smeeton. In 1971, they started the Wildlife Reserve of Western Canada, later named the Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI). In 1972, they started breeding swift foxes, six years before the species was recognized as extinct in Canada.

Through their hard work and dedication, the swift fox colony grew, and the Smeetons, in conjunction with the Canadian Wildlife Service and interested landholders, were able to release more than 800 swift foxes back into their native habitat. The swift fox breeding and release program was at one time the only successful program of its kind in the world.

It is a shame that such a vital part of this program is now ignored. The swift fox program at the CEI has been operating for 40 years and is recognized internationally, yet it is ignored here.

At a time when Alberta is getting a lot of flak concerning the environment, all of us should look at this program and its components, and recognize it as an example of what can be started at a grassroots level and become one of the few examples of an extirpated species regaining a foothold in its natural habitat.

Catriona Matheson, Cochrane