News - the first of a new series of quarterly updates
 

The Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team
The black-footed ferret is one of the most endangered mammals in the world. Multiple partners have worked since 1981 to conserve black-footed ferrets. In 1996 the Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team (BFFRIT) was created to more effectively coordinate and integrate the expertise and resources of various parties contributing to the recovery of the black-footed ferret.


Settler with plow

Barriers to Black-footed Ferret Recovery
Black-footed ferrets are spectacularly adapted to their prairie ecosystem home and very particularly to their prairie dog prey and prairie dog burrow shelter. Through eons of evolution, black-footed ferrets mastered the utilization of an abundant resource: prairie dogs and their burrow systems. They had it all figured out and lived without significant barriers to their well being until European settlers pulled several fast ones on them.


Settlers plowed up a significant portion of the prairie, destroying prairie dog complexes, poisoned prairie dogs as agricultural pests, and inadvertently introduced a non-native disease, sylvatic plague to the extent that less than 2% of the historical prairie dog population remains.

Black-footed ferrets are an important part of our natural heritage and ours to restore and protect. The proposed resolution is to restore black-footed ferrets to their prairie home through habitat protection, captive breeding, reintroduction and translocation.

 

Current Events

Kit Tally 2009

Each year, between 350-450 kits are born in captivity. Approximately 200-220 of them are reintroduced into the wild at more and more sites. Whelping season started on March 24 this year. As of May 26, 2009 46 kits had been born! We will be posting updates monthly, come back often!

 

 

As of June 28, 2009 317 kits have been born!

Black-footed Ferrets in the News

PBS: see http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-loneliest-animals/introduction/4898/;
WWF: see http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/ninetowatch2009.html;
Time: see http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1888728_1888736_1888858,00.html
Audubon: see http://www.audubonmagazine.org/
 
 

Copyright ©2009
Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team
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Revised – May, 2009