Black-footed Ferret Poster
1
Black-footed Ferret Acknowledgments: Mona Long @ Main Street Reprographics, Chase Macek, Robert Wang By: Jason E Evitt Common Name: Black-footed Ferret Scientific Name: Mustela nigripes • Original Range: 100 million acres of intermountain and prairie grasslands extending from Canada to Mexico • Current Range: They only exist in 17 different reintroduction sites and in 6 captive breeding programs established in 1988 Reasons for endangerment: • Conversion of native prairie habitat to cropland • Poisoning, shooting and disease, especially of prairie dogs • The health of BFFs depends upon the health of the prairie dog communities they are sustained by • After prairie dog poisoning abated in the mid- 1900s, plague was throughout BFFs range • Sylvatic Plague and Canine Distemper have been primary diseases causing decline Figure 1. Historical range and current reintroduction sites Figure 2. Black-footed ferret in Janos Biosphere Reserve, Mexico Figure 3. BFFs-Best Friends Forever Restoration efforts: • Goal: 1,500 free-ranging adult BFFs in 10 or more populations with 30+ breeding adults • Status as of 2008: 6,500+ kits birthed since 1987 and over 2,300 released with at least 750 ferrets in the wild in 15 locations • Breeding program began with 7 founder animals trapped at Meeteetse, Wyoming • 300 total kits were born in captivity in 2011! • Dusting and systematic flea control, vaccines, maintenance of large sites, and more reintroduction site research are a few ways of managing the threats to recovery • 4 populations of 30+ breeding adults have been successfully established in 3 states Conservation Status: Endangered Range Wide Figure 4. BFF Conservation Center, Wellington, CO References: www.fws.gov www.defenders.org www.blackfootedferret.org www.azgfd.gov www.wikipedia.org Ecological Niche: • BFFs are the only U.S. native ferret species • BFFs live in the burrows of prairie dogs • Prairie dogs comprise up to 90% of their diet, eating over 100 per year or 1 every 3 days • BFFs spend 90% of their time underground • ≈ 150 acres of occupied prairie dog habitat are needed to support one ferret - that’s 15,000 Acres / 100 ferrets on average • Prairie dogs currently occupy about 3 million acres ≈ 3% of their
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Transcript of Black-footed Ferret Poster
Black-footed Ferret
Acknowledgments:Mona Long @ Main Street Reprographics, Chase
Macek, Robert Wang
By: Jason E Evitt
Common Name: Black-footed FerretScientific Name: Mustela nigripes• Original Range: 100 million acres of intermountain and prairie grasslands extending from Canada to Mexico
• Current Range: They only exist in 17 different reintroduction sites and in 6 captive breeding programs established in 1988
Reasons for endangerment:• Conversion of native prairie habitat to cropland• Poisoning, shooting and disease, especially of
prairie dogs• The health of BFFs depends upon the health of
the prairie dog communities they are sustained by• After prairie dog poisoning abated in the mid-1900s, plague was throughout BFFs range• Sylvatic Plague and Canine Distemper have been primary diseases causing declineFigure 1. Historical range and current
reintroduction sites
Figure 2. Black-footed ferret in Janos Biosphere Reserve, Mexico
Figure 3. BFFs-Best Friends Forever
Restoration efforts:• Goal: 1,500 free-ranging adult BFFs in 10 or more populations with 30+ breeding adults• Status as of 2008: 6,500+ kits birthed since 1987 and over 2,300 released with at least 750 ferrets in the wild in 15 locations• Breeding program began with 7 founder animals trapped at Meeteetse, Wyoming• 300 total kits were born in captivity in 2011!• Dusting and systematic flea control, vaccines,
maintenance of large sites, and more reintroduction site research are a few ways of managing the threats to recovery• 4 populations of 30+ breeding adults have been successfully established in 3 states
Conservation Status: Endangered Range Wide
Figure 4. BFF Conservation Center, Wellington, CO
References:www.fws.govwww.defenders.orgwww.blackfootedferret.orgwww.azgfd.govwww.wikipedia.org
Ecological Niche:• BFFs are the only U.S. native ferret species• BFFs live in the burrows of prairie dogs• Prairie dogs comprise up to 90% of their diet, eating over 100 per year or 1 every 3 days• BFFs spend 90% of their time underground• ≈ 150 acres of occupied prairie dog habitat are
needed to support one ferret - that’s15,000 Acres / 100 ferrets on average• Prairie dogs currently occupy about 3 million acres ≈ 3% of their historical range• BFF Habitat coincides with the Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (85% historically), Gunnison’s PDs, & White-tailed PDs
