The black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes, is a medium-sized carnivore in the mustelid family, a group of carnivorous mammals that includes weasels, badgers, martens, mink and otters, among others. It is the only ferret species native to the Americas, as noted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2019. The earliest fossil record of the black-footed ferret is from approximately 100,000 years ago, according to Anderson et al., 1986, and Clark, 1986. Black-footed ferrets were first described in 1851 from a specimen observed near the Platte River by J.J. Audubon and J. Bachman, as noted by Anderson et al., 1986, and Clark 1986.
Anderson et al. estimated that in the late 1800s, there may have been 500,000 to 1 million black-footed ferrets. Near the end of the late 1950s, black-footed ferrets were presumed extinct throughout their range as a result of landscape alterations from agricultural expansion and prairie dog eradication. In 1964, however, a small population of ferrets was discovered in Mellette County, South Dakota. This population was used in captive breeding efforts that were ultimately unsuccessful, and that wild population died out in 1974. Then in 1979, what was thought to be the last ferret died in captivity. In 1981, ferrets were rediscovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming, which launched the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Program. Lockhart et al., 2006, note that black-footed ferrets were extirpated from the wild in 1987 to initiate a captive breeding program.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the black-footed ferret as an endangered species under the early endangered species legislation on March 11, 1967,32 FR 4001, and again on June 2, 1970, 35 FR 8491. The ferret was grandfathered into the Endangered Species Act in 1973. The National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center was established in 2001 near Fort Collins, Colorado. It hosts the largest captive population of black-footed ferrets, and supplies them for reintroduction efforts, as noted by the agency. Colorado is home to a second captive breeding facility – the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. The other captive breeding facilities are:
1. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia
2. Louisville Zoological Garden in Louisville, Kentucky
3. Phoenix Zoo in Phoenix, Arizona
4. Toronto Zoo in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2019 noted that the four primary stressors to black-footed ferrets are disease, drought, declining genetic fitness including increased inbreeding and a reduction in genetic diversity, and prairie dog poisoning and shooting. The main disease concern for wild and captive populations is non-native sylvatic plague. In fact, the agency says it is the most significant challenge to ferret population resiliency. Canine distemper affects wild and captive populations too, but due to reduced prevalence and vaccination efforts, no canine distemper epizootics have been observed since 1991; therefore, the threat of this virus on ferrets is greatly reduced. Captive populations are also affected by other native diseases, including coccidiosis, cryptosporidiosis and hemorrhagic syndrome, according to Hutchins et al., 1996. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that such native diseases may occur in the wild, but they are uncommon.
https://www.fws.gov/species/black-footed-ferret-mustela-nigripes
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