What is the habitat of the black-footed ferret?
The black-footed Ferret is found in short or middle grass prairies. It often makes its homes in abandoned prairie dog burrows.
How many black-footed ferret breeding facilities exist?
Black-footed ferrets currently reside at five AZA-accredited facilities: the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Louisville Zoo, Phoenix Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, and Toronto Zoo.
What organizations are helping black-footed ferrets?
The USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services (WS) program and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are both members of the Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team (BFFRIT), a multiagency group led by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and tasked with the long-term recovery of the ferret.
Are there any black-footed ferrets in captivity?
Currently there are 340 black-footed ferrets in the wild and 301 in captivity.
Where is a ferrets natural habitat?
grassy plains
Ferrets’ Natural Habitat In the wild, ferrets live in grassy plains, usually making their homes in tunnels that have been dug by other creatures (like prairie dogs). Generally, ferrets take over these tunnels after preying on the animals that have dug them (because ferrets themselves are not very good diggers).
Why are black-footed ferrets losing their habitat?
Black-footed Ferrets are endangered because much of the shortgrass prairie habitat on which the ferrets depend has been plowed for crops. Prairie dogs, which are the ferrets’ main food, have been reduced in number due to habitat loss and disease.
How many black-footed ferrets are left in captivity?
About 280 Black-Footed Ferrets are currently living in captive breeding facilities and, according to Nature Conservancy, about 200-300 ferrets now live in the wild. About 3,000 Black-Footed Ferrets are necessary to fully recover the species.
How can I help save the black-footed ferret?
Protecting Black-Footed Ferrets WWF and partners maintain existing ferret sites, establish new reintroduction sites by relocating prairie dogs to increase ferret habitat, mitigate sylvatic plague on prairie dog colonies and participate in oral vaccine research to better protect prairie dogs from sylvatic plague.
What is the recovery plan for the black-footed ferret?
Specifically, recovery of black-footed ferrets will depend upon: (1) Continued efforts of captive breeding facilities to provide suitable animals for release into the wild; (2) conservation of prairie dog habitat adequate to sustain ferrets in several populations distributed throughout their historical range; and (3) …
Can ferrets breed in captivity?
The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), once considered extinct, has benefited from captive breeding and subsequent reintroduction into native habitat. A high proportion of females (>90%) exhibit estrus in captivity during the spring breeding season.
What do ferrets need in their habitat?
Building your habitat In addition to a large habitat, ferrets need a large, escape-proof, enclosed space. The area should be “ferret-proofed” so it is free of wires, loose objects and other items to chew on since they need daily time to run in this enclosed space for exercise.