| Black-footed Ferret | ||||||||||||||
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 Mustela nigripes
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| Mustela nigripes (Audubon & Bachman, 1851) |
The Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) is a small carnivorous North American mammal closely related to the Steppe Polecat of Russia, and a member of the diverse family Mustelidae which also includes weasels, mink, polecats, martens, otters, and badgers. John James Audubon ( April 26 1785 – January 27 1851) was an American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter The Rev John Bachman ( February 4, 1790 - February 24, 1874) was an American naturalist. 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands The Steppe Polecat ( Mustela eversmanii) is a small Carnivore and is one of several species of Weasel that belong to the genus Mustela Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Mustelidae or Mustelids (from Latin mustela, Weasel) commonly referred to as the weasel family, is a family of carnivorous Mammals Weasels are Mammals in the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. There are two living species of " mink," the American Mink and the European Mink. For the Wiltshire village see Marten Wiltshire. For the town in Bulgaria see Marten Bulgaria. Otters are semi- aquatic (or in one case aquatic) fish-eating Mammals The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Badger is the Common name for any animal of three subfamilies which belong to the family Mustelidae: the same Mammal family as the It should not be confused with the domesticated ferret. The ferret is a domestic Mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo.
The Black-footed Ferret is an endangered mammal in North America, according to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation They became extirpated in the wild in Canada in 1937, and were classified as endangered in the U.S. in 1967. Local extinction is where a Species (or other Taxon) ceases to exist in the chosen area of study but still exists elsewhere Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. The last known wild population was taken into captivity in the mid-1980s, a few years after its accidental discovery in Wyoming. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. Release of captive animals has successfully re-introduced the species to parts of its former habitat, and currently these populations have made what has been called an "astonishing comeback". [1][2]
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Physical description
Black-footed Ferrets are about 45 cm (18 in) long, with a furry 15-cm (6 in) tail, and they weigh roughly 1 kg (2 lbs). Like most members of the family, they are very low to the ground with an elongated body and very short legs. Their fur is white at the base but darkens at the tips, making them appear yellowish-brown overall, with black feet and tail-tip, and a distinctive black face mask. These blend in well with the prairie ecosystem in which they live.
Ecology and behavior
They are nocturnal hunters that require a plentiful supply of prairie dogs for prey. As an Animal behavior, nocturnality describes sleeping during the Daytime and being active at Night - the opposite of the diurnal The prairie dogs ( Cynomys) are small burrowing Rodents native to the Grasslands of North America Though they will also eat other small mammals, birds, and insects, a single family of four Black-footed Ferrets eats about 250 prairie dogs each year and cannot survive without access to large colonies of them. Typically a prairie dog colony 125 acres (50 ha) in size will provide a sufficiently stable prey population for one adult ferret. The ferrets are entirely dependent on the prairie dogs for their survival, and even shelter in prairie dog burrows during the day. Ferret mating seasons last from March-April. Gestation of the kits commonly lasts 41-43 days. The number of kits born ranges from 1 to 7, but most commonly only 3-4 are born.
Conservation status
The loss of their prairie grassland habitat, the drastic reduction of prairie dog numbers (through both habitat loss and poisoning), and the effects of canine distemper and sylvatic plague (similar to bubonic plague) have all contributed to the near-extinction of the species during the 19th and 20th centuries. Prairie, from the French prairie ("meadow" "grassland" "pasture" refers to an area of land of low topographic relief that historically Grasslands (also called greenswards) are areas where the Vegetation is dominated by Grasses ( Poaceae) and other Herbaceous (non-woody Habitat destruction is the process in which natural Habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species originally present Canine distemper is a very serious viral Disease affecting animals in the families Canidae, Mustelidae, Mephitidae, Hyaenidae Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Even before their numbers declined, Black-footed Ferrets were rarely seen: they weren't officially recognized as a species by scientists until 1851, following publication of a book by naturalist John James Audubon and Rev. 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year John James Audubon ( April 26 1785 – January 27 1851) was an American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter John Bachman. The Rev John Bachman ( February 4, 1790 - February 24, 1874) was an American naturalist. Even then, their existence was questioned since no other Black-footed Ferrets were reported for over twenty years.
In 1981, a very small population of about 130 animals was discovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Meeteetse is a town in Park County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. Soon after discovery, the population began a rapid decline due to disease. By 1986, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department led a cooperative program to capture the 18 remaining animals and begin an intensive captive breeding program. At that time, the entire world population amounted to about 50 individuals in captivity.
U. S. federal and state agencies in cooperation with private landowners, conservation groups, Native Americans, and North American zoos, have been actively reintroducing ferrets back into the wild since 1991. Beginning in Wyoming, reintroduction efforts have since expanded to sites in Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Chihuahua, Mexico. Proposed reintroduction sites have been identified in Canada. However, in May 2000, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the black-footed ferret as being an extirpated species in Canada. [3]
As of 2007, the total wild population of black-footed ferrets numbers well over 600 in the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the While the IUCN formally classifies them as extinct in the wild, this is due to the last update to the red-list assessment having been in 1996 when the species was indeed only surviving in captivity (Mustelid Specialist Group, 1996). The Black-footed Ferret is listed as "Endangered" under the Endangered Species Act since September 20, 2005. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( et seq or ESA is the most wide-ranging of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. An April 2006 report in the New York Times puts South Dakota's Conata Basin population at around 250. Arizona's Aubrey Valley population is well over 100 and they have started a second reintroduction site using around 50 animals. An August 2007 report by Wyoming researchers in the journal Science counted a population of 223 in one area of the state (the original number of re-introduced ferrets, most of which died, was 228), and an annual growth rate of 35% from 2003–2006 was estimated. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. Science is the Academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the world's most prestigious Scientific [1] This rate of recovery has been said to be much faster than for many endangered species, and the ferret seems to have prevailed over the previous problems of disease and prey shortage that hampered its improvement. [2]
The recovery plan calls for the establishment of 10 or more separate, self-sustaining wild populations. Biologists hope to have 1500 Black-footed Ferrets established in the wild by the year 2010, with at least 30 breeding adults in each population. Meeting this objective would allow the conservation status of the species to be downgraded to threatened. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future Threatened species are any species (including Animals Plants fungi, etc
References
- ^ a b Reuters.com By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Thu Aug 9, 2007 3:27PM EDT
- ^ a b NYTimes By Henry Fountain August 14, 2007
- ^ Species at Risk - Black-footed Ferret. Environment Canada (2006-05-08). Environment Canada (EC, legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act ( R Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen Retrieved on 2007-08-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting
- Mustelid Specialist Group (1996). Mustela nigripes. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006.
External links
- Black-footed Ferret at Prairie Wildlife Research.
- Facts about the Black-footed Ferret from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park website
- Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team website, from a team led by the USFWS
- Black-footed Ferret Video
- Black-footed Ferrets in Arizona Arizona Game and Fish Department
- Black-Footed Ferret Recovery – At the Crossroads, a USFWS 1995 article
- Q&A about their reintroduction into south-central South Dakota, a USFWS 2002 article
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Species Profile
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