Black-footed Ferret

The black-footed ferret is one of the rarest mammals in the world, and at one time may have been the rarest. Thought to be extinct in the late 1970s, it was rediscovered by a ranch dog near Meteetse Wyoming in 1981. The last 18 animals were removed from the wild (introduced diseases were decimating the population) and became the beginning of a captive propogation program. Although there are now about 1,000 ferrets in existence – half of them in the wild – the specie’s survival is still far from certain. There are genetic concerns from their population bottleneck, and diseases such as plague and canine distemper continue to be a concern. Also, the prairie ecosystem has changed with an influx of new or expanding mid-size predators such as great-horned owls and coyotes that kill black-footed ferrets (historically, wolves kept coyote numbers in check on the plains and the lack of trees limited great-horned owls). However, the biggest threat is the continue persecution and decline of prairie dog populations. The future of the black-footed ferret is dependent on the survival of large prairie dog colonies, the primary food source of the ferret. There are very few such colonies left. Some of the best are in South Dakota, the home state of Pronghorn Productions.