Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Plan

                           Nate Comer

Black Footed Ferret Recovery Plan

      

Description:

The black-footed ferret, also known as the American polecat or prairie dog hunter, is a species of carnivorous mammal native to North America. It is roughly the size of a mink, and is in the Mustelidae family, the same family as otters, badgers, weasels, martens, ferrets, and wolverines. Males are typically between 19 and 21 inches long with females being around 10% smaller. The black-footed ferret has a long torso, which contrasts with his short stout limbs and blunt head. The ferret is known for the black fur that covers it’s limbs, tail, and eyes, forming a raccoon like mask. These ferrets are nocturnal animals that often live alone in boroughs in the prairie lands. Female black-footed ferrets tend to stay in the relatively small areas while males tend to travel throughout a larger territory, mating with many females as he travels. Up to 90% of the diet of a black-footed ferret’s diet consists of prairie dogs, which ties the populations together.

Geographic and Population Changes:

Black-footed ferret’s have always had relatively small and restricted populations. They were first discovered in 1851 by Audubon and Bachman. Their historical territory stretched over much of the American Great Plains. However, there population shrank rapidly during the 20^th century was even thought to have disappeared entirely until 1979. Since 1979, when a dead black-footed ferret was found in the mouth of Lucille Hogg’s dog, work has been done to bring back the ferret population. It has now been re-introduced in selected areas of the Great Plains and populations are rising steadily.

Listing Data/Type of Listing:

The black-footed ferret was first listed an endangered species in 1967 under the Endangered Species Preservation Act and then re-listed in 1974 under the same classification. However, soon after that it was believed to be extinct. It was then listed again as critically endangered. In 1986 they were extinct in the wild but now their status is only endangered.

Cause of Listing and Main threats to its continued existence:

The biggest threat to the continued existence of the black-footed ferret is the war against the prairie dogs. Prairie dogs are over 90% of the diet for these ferrets so they can’t afford to have prairie dog populations drop. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Prairie lands were converted to croplands and farmers started to kill prairie dogs because they are known as pests. The prairie dog population was also reduced with the Sylvatic plague. All these factors greatly reduced the population of prairie dogs which in turn greatly reduced the population of black-footed ferrets.

Description of Recovery Plan:

The recovery plan for the black-footed ferret has been relatively successful to this point. The plan itself is a captive breeding plan where they force captured ferrets to breed so they can raise more ferrets and introduce them into the wild. As of today, it is estimated that 1,200 black-footed ferrets roam the Great Plains.

Sources:

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/20131108%20BFF%202nd%20Rev.%20Final%20Recovery%20Plan.pdf

http://www.blackfootedferret.org