Why are black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) endangered?
The arrival of European settlers resulted in a nearly complete conversion of grasslands to agricultural fields. Today urban and sub-urban development is also threatening black-footed ferret habitat. Furthermore, the extensive persecution of prairie dogs (ferret’s primary prey) by ranchers has dramatically reduced the food supply for ferrets. Ferrets are also very susceptible to a number of diseases including sylvatic plague, canine distemper, and human influenza. As a result of these impacts, the once wide ranging black-footed ferret was thought to be globally extinct by 1979. Miraculously, in 1981 a rancher’s dog caught a ferret in Meeteetse, Wyoming, leading biologists to the discovery of one small, remaining ferret population. After this population began to crash due to disease, the last 18 ferrets were brought into captivity from 1985-1987 to establish a breeding and recovery program with the hopes of reintroducing the species to its historic range in the wild. Black-footed ferrets
