One of California’s Most Elusive Animals Just Showed Up on a Tahoe Trail Cam

One of California’s rarest wild residents has quietly returned to the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that a Sierra Nevada red fox was captured on trail camera video Nov. 13, 2025, in Blackwood Canyon on Tahoe’s west shore. It marks the first documented sighting in the Lake Tahoe Basin since the mid-1900s.

The Sierra Nevada red fox is considered one of the rarest carnivores in the world. Adapted to high-elevation environments, the subspecies once ranged across the Sierra crest but was believed to have disappeared from much of its historic habitat due to trapping, poisoning campaigns, and habitat changes.

In 2010, biologists rediscovered a small population near Sonora Pass, sparking cautious optimism. Since then, detections have slowly expanded north toward Donner Lake and the headwaters of the North Fork American River. The new Tahoe sighting suggests the fragile population may be growing or dispersing into former range.

Because of its rarity, the Sierra Nevada red fox is listed as Threatened under the California Endangered Species Act and Endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The recent detection came from a wildlife camera placed at 7,000 feet as part of the Tahoe Basin Wildlife Connectivity Study, a collaborative effort involving state and nonprofit partners.

For conservationists, the footage is more than just a rare glimpse. It is a hopeful sign that one of the Sierra’s most elusive predators may be reclaiming ground it lost decades ago.