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Currently, the Institute studies the foxes on all islands where they occur. Our research includes long-term demographic and genetic studies (San Clemente, San Nicolas, Santa Catalina, and Santa Cruz islands), disease and parasite investigations (all island populations), monitoring (same four islands listed above), and restoration efforts (Santa Catalina and Santa Cruz islands). The Institute works closely with biologists from the Channel Islands National Park who are working to restore the populations on San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands after the recent extirpation by golden eagles.

Studying the Island fox may involve capturing foxes in box traps to mark the animals and/or obtain a blood sample for analysis. Island foxes are generally easy to trap, and equally easy to handle once captured. After weighing the foxes in the trap, biologists remove the un-anesthetized foxes from traps using a lightweight leather glove, and then handle them during the examination process with just a firm grip around their neck.

Foxes are placed into age classes by the relative amount of wear of the first upper molars. Each fox is given an individual identification mark; a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag placed just under the skin. The unique code of the implanted PIT tag can be determined using a reader similar to a bar code reader that "excites" the PIT tag with energy in order to receive the tag’s code. In studies where home range and habitat use are of interest, the animal may also be equipped with a collar-mounted telemetry transmitter.

A blood sample is obtained by first blindfolding the fox so that it is less likely to move while the sample is being obtained. The sample, taken from the femoral vein or artery, is later centrifuged to separate the component parts and then frozen for later analysis. The blood sample allows for analysis of disease exposure (serology), general blood parameters (serum chemistry and hematology), parasites, and genetics.