October 30, 2006

Two wild born black-footed ferrets found as recovery effort marks 25th anniversary

As the effort to recover black-footed ferrets celebrates its 25th anniversary, biologists are analyzing results of another positive monitoring season for existing ferret populations in northwest Colorado. While tracking these nocturnal, tunnel-dwellers is extremely difficult, this year's spotlighting efforts located nine individual ferrets including two ferrets that were born in the wild earlier this year. The first wild born black-footed ferret in Colorado was found by searchers in 2005, so the discovery of two additional wild born ferrets is significant.

"We are encouraged by the increasing evidence of wild reproduction," said Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) biologist Pam Schnurr. "This indicates that we are turning the corner towards a more self-sustaining population. There's a long way to go for the species, but we feel like we're making good progress."

Since recovery efforts began in Colorado in 2001, 220 black-footed ferrets have been released in the state. In the coming weeks, more ferrets are headed for the northwest corner of Colorado. Biologists with the DOW, Bureau of Land Management and US Fish and Wildlife Service are planning to release 15 more black-footed ferrets in the Wolf Creek Management Area. The Wolf Creek Management Area is a vast sage expanse east of the community of Dinosaur. It was selected as a recovery location due its remoteness and its existing populations of prairie dogs, the black-footed ferrets preferred prey.

The national black-footed ferret recovery effort is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. At one time, black-footed ferrets were believed to be extinct, but a small wild population was discovered in southern Wyoming on Sept. 26, 1981. That population of approximately 130 ferrets was studied extensively, but plague nearly wiped out the colony in the mid-1980s. To save the species, biologists rounded up the remaining ferrets, which were at that time probably the rarest mammals on earth. Scientists undertook an incredible recovery effort and used the last 18 black-footed ferrets to create captive breeding populations. Those populations are the roots of the national effort to recover the ferret. (editor's note: complete background information about the recovery effort is available on-line at http://www.blackfootedferret.org )

While recovery is beginning, black-footed ferrets remain endangered and are protected by the Endangered Species Act. Under the black-footed ferret recovery plan, a coalition of federal, state and non-governmental agencies is seeking to establish 10 widely-dispersed, self-sustaining ferret populations.