North America's rarest mammal, the Black-footed ferret, was rediscovered 25 years ago.
21/06/2006 00:00:00
By the late 1970s the black-footed ferret was thought to be extinct. However in 1981 a dog belonging to farmers in Wyoming killed a black-footed ferret, and a few months later a live black-footed ferret is spotted. A small breeding population is discovered, containing just 129 animals, and plans are made to begin a captive breeding program. However in 1985 outbreaks of sylvatic plague and canine distemper decimate the population of the ferrets, so the last 18 known animals are brought into captivity in an effort to save the species.
Amazingly, more than 5,100 kits have been born in captivity since 1987, and since 1991, more than 2,200 have been reintroduced to the wild in the black-footed ferrets’ historical range in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico.
Black-footed ferrets live almost exclusively in prairie dog colonies. Prairie dogs are their main prey, and the ferrets live and rear their young in prairie dog burrows. Black-footed ferrets only have one litter each year, averaging just 3 kits per litter. The kits stay in the burrows until they are 2-3 months old.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believe that there are more 550 Black-footed ferrets in the wild today, all originating from captive stock. Ferrets have successfully bred at all sites where they have been released. Some reintroduced populations are thriving but others have been hit by disease, drought, and other factors affecting their habitat.
Black-footed ferrets live almost exclusively in prairie dog colonies. Prairie dogs are their main prey, and the ferrets live and rear their young in prairie dog burrows. Black-footed ferrets only have one litter each year, averaging just 3 kits per litter. The kits stay in the burrows until they are 2-3 months old.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believe that there are more 550 Black-footed ferrets in the wild today, all originating from captive stock. Ferrets have successfully bred at all sites where they have been released. Some reintroduced populations are thriving but others have been hit by disease, drought, and other factors affecting their habitat.
Black-footed ferrets were once found throughout the Great Plains, from northern Mexico to southern Saskatchewan, Canada, and from the Rocky Mountains eastwards through the Dakotas and south through Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The goal is to improve the status of the species from ‘endangered’ to ‘threatened’ while establishing ten free-ranging populations of ferrets, throughout the widest possible area within their former range. It is hoped that 1,500 breeding adult ferrets will be established in the wild by 2010.
2006 marks the 25th anniversary of the rediscovery of black-footed ferrets at Meeteetsee, Wyoming, and the beginning of national recovery efforts. Many state and federal agencies, Indian tribes, conservation organizations, and private partners have contributed to the growing success of the black-footed ferret program.
More information on black-footed ferret recovery can be found at www.blackfootedferret.org
2006 marks the 25th anniversary of the rediscovery of black-footed ferrets at Meeteetsee, Wyoming, and the beginning of national recovery efforts. Many state and federal agencies, Indian tribes, conservation organizations, and private partners have contributed to the growing success of the black-footed ferret program.
More information on black-footed ferret recovery can be found at www.blackfootedferret.org
