The black-footed ferret was thought to be extinct until a small population was discovered in Wyoming in 1981. At one point, there were only 18 black-footed ferrets alive in the world.
A Prairie Native at the Brink of Extinction
The black-footed ferret, a member of the weasel family, is one of the most endangered mammals in North America. Ferrets historically occupied more than 100 million acres of western grasslands, from the Rocky Mountains eastward throughout the Great Plains, but are now reduced to a handful of reintroduction sites in the wild. Healthy ferret populations require very large prairie dog complexes, and dramatic prairie dog declines have taken a brutal toll on the ferret. If efforts to recover white-tailed, black-tailed, and Gunnison’s prairie dogs are successful, we may yet recover the black-footed ferret as well.
Natural History
Prairie dogs make up 90% of the ferret’s diet, although they will also eat mice, ground squirrels, rabbits, and other animals. Ferrets are preyed on by coyotes, raptors, badgers, and other carnivores; prairie dog burrows offer ferrets and their young protection from predation. Ferrets themselves can die from plague, and are also susceptible to canine distemper. Black-footed ferrets were thought to be extinct when a small population was discovered in 1981. A captive breeding program was established, and ferrets have since been reintroduced to less than a dozen sites, including the Wolf Creek population in northwestern Colorado near Rangely. Since 2001, 237 black-footed ferrets have been released in the Wolf Creek area, and wild-born ferret kits were first found there in 2005. But the ferret’s status in Colorado is precarious – only 16 ferrets were confirmed to be present in the reintroduction area at the end of 2007.
Conservation Status
-Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, 1967
-Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy Science Forum Species of Most Concern
-Colorado Division of Wildlife Endangered Species
-Wyoming Species of Special Concern
Action Taken
Center for Native Ecosystems monitors the reintroduced black-footed ferret population in northwestern Colorado to ensure that the they are adequately protected. In mid-2008, we successfully blocked the BLM’s plan to lease the Wolf Creek ferret reintroduction site (home of Colorado’s only wild black-footed ferrets) for oil and gas drilling.
