Once thought extinct the recovery of the black-footed ferret has long been touted as one of the most amazing success stories in the history of the United States.
Last month the Zoo’s endangered black-footed ferrets moved back into the El Paso Water Discovery Education Center. Over the past few years they were living in the Chihuahuan Desert Ranch House exhibit where the Zoo is now planning to convert the building into an endangered species breeding facility.
Because they are nocturnal they are not easily seen during the day spending most of their time sleeping in their burrow. Area 6 keepers are working on training them to come to a target stick so that staff will be able to present special ferret encounter programs.
I-Phone Video Snapshot
Fifteen years ago there may have been up to 1000 black-footed ferrets living in the wild. Today the story is much different and very alarming. There may be as few as 370 ferrets left in the wild. The greatest threat to black-footed ferrets today is sylvatic plague. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service they are not worried so much about plague killing ferrets. They’re worried about plague killing their primary food source – the prairie dog.
The Zoo’s black-footed ferrets are conservation ambassadors for conservation of both species with the black-footed ferret back on the brink of extinction. Over the years El Paso Zoo staff have been very active in helping with conservation efforts in supporting research through the Zoo’s Conservation Fund, sending staff to prairie dog towns in Arizona and Mexico to help with ferret recovery efforts and in trying to help bring back prairie dogs to areas where they were once common and provided habitat for black-footed ferrets.
Conservation funds have been designated in the past to support research on a vaccine for Sylvatic plague, an infectious bacterial disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that primarily affects rodents such as prairie dogs. In 2017 we helped to dust/vaccinate a prairie dog colony in Wyoming at a new black-footed ferret release site.
The Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team (BFFRIT) was created in 1996 and is a multi-agency/ conservation organization effort, led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which includes representatives from federal and state governments, accredited zoos and nonprofit organizations.
In the late 1970’s black-footed ferrets were believed to be extinct. A small population was rediscovered in 1981, but by 1987 the number had drastically fallen. In a bold move, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relocated the last remaining 18 animals from the wild and eventually into managed breeding programs in accredited zoos.
The El Paso Zoo has been a part of the official program for more than 15 years, and has taken part in the re-population projects in the past, as well as conducting biomedical assessments such as drawing blood or checking vital stats on the animals before they cross the border. Black Footed Ferrets remain near the brink of extinction due to loss of habitat, conversion of grasslands to agricultural uses, widespread prairie dog eradication programs and plague which combined have reduced ferret habitat to less than 2 percent of what once existed. Remaining habitat is now fragmented, with prairie dog towns separated by great expanses of cropland and human development. Many other sensitive species such as Burrowing Owls, Mountain Plovers, Golden Eagles, swift fox, and Ferruginous Hawks are strongly linked to this habitat for their survival. Many of these species are following the ferret’s fate, and may soon require further conservation efforts to ensure their survival.
Ferret Photos Courtesy Arizona Fish and Game