Is translocation an effective tool to remove predatory foxes from a desert protected area?

Reintroduced houbara bustards (Chlamydotis [undulata] macqueenii) in a large, fenced reserve in central Saudi Arabia are subject to predation pressures from mammalian carnivores. From 1993 to 1997 a total of 98 Arabian red foxes (Vulpes vulpes arabica) and 56 Rüppellʹs foxes (Vulpes ruppelli sabea) were translocated away from houbara reintroduction sites in a predator control exercise. Translocation distances varied from 15 to 150 km and both species showed the same likelihood of return and recapture (ca. 12%). No fox of either species was recorded as having returned from translocation distances in excess of 150 km. Red fox return appeared to be related to distance translocated up to 150 km, but this was not the case for Rüppellʹs fox. In this trial, translocation was not found to be a time-effective tool to reduce predation