to be more abundant in the past (early 20th century), it is now listed as a Class II status of concern due to its restricted distribution. The skunk's small population size can be attributed to several factors. The first of which being loss and degradation of habitat resulting from over grazing by domestic livestock (cattle and horses) and feral nonnative herbivores (sheep, deer, elk). Another possible threat to the skunk is introduction of diseases by domestic cats and dogs brought to the island as pets. The species occurs widely on Santa Cruz island, but is uncommon to rare, and is more common on Santa Rosa island. During the 1990s, the island skunk population saw an increase due to reduced competition from their natural competitor, the island fox. The fox's population decreased dramatically following the colonization of the Channel Islands by the Golden Eagle. Conservation efforts Action has been taken to try and increase skunk populations on the islands. In the early 1980s 38,000 feral sheep were removed from Santa Cruz Island and cattle ranching operations terminated in 1988. Despite these efforts, feral pigs continue to pose a great threat to skunk populations as their rooting destroys skunk dens. Skunks are specialized in their resources and therefore sensitive to competition with feral pigs for invertebrate foods. The future of skunk populations on Santa Rosa Island is expected to be positive due to the eradication of feral pigs in the '80s. Updated status The status of skunks on Santa Cruz Island was reevaluated in 1998, six years after previous research done in 1992, which helped to determine the Island Skunks as rare or of special concern. Across the six-year period a sudden increase in skunk populations was observed. This was attributed to several possible factors such as high rainfall in 1998 after many years of drought, which was thought to have stimulated plant growth. This could have in turn, stimulated reproduction because of the delayed implantation exhibited by the skunks which could allow them to increase fecundity during good years. Additionally, the skunks could be responding to recovery efforts on the island. The skunks most direct competitor for resources, the island fox, had also been exhibiting a population decline which would result in less competition for the resource specific island skunk. Skunk populations showed a remarkable increase over a ten-year period, and in 2011 approximately 3,000 skunks were marked and counted during