RSS Channels IndexJournal’s Focus on Black-Footed Ferret Marks 30 Years of Repopulation Efforts
Newswise — The black-footed ferret disappeared from the wild in the late 1980s. As predicted in 1929 in the pages of the Journal of Mammalogy, human persecution of prairie dogs, the principal prey of ferrets, took its toll on this species. When the first captive-breeding effort for ferrets failed, this member of the weasel family nearly became extinct.
The current issue of the Journal of Mammalogy reports once again on the endangered black-footed ferret, with a special section marking the 30th anniversary of its rediscovery by a ranch dog near Meeteetse, Wyoming, in 1981. The event alerted scientists that a few free-ranging ferrets still remained and ignited a new breeding program, which has proved successful, with an estimated 824 ferrets in the wild as of 2008.
When animals are threatened in the wild and populations decline, breeding in captivity becomes one of the few options available for preserving the species. However, this also can lead to a loss of genetic variation. One of the studies in this issue reports on DNA testing of wild-born kits in South Dakota, where ferrets have been reintroduced. The encouraging findings showed that genetic diversity was maintained within this population even after reintroductions had ceased several years earlier.
Two articles describe the similarities and differences between the Siberian polecat and the black-footed ferret. As an ecologically equivalent species, the polecat can serve as a surrogate for the ferret to provide critical insight for ferret reintroductions. Siberian polecats were released into prairie dog populations in Colorado and Wyoming so that researchers could observe behavior and predation that can improve rearing and reintroduction techniques for the threatened ferret.
Other studies featured in this special section used radiotelemetry to track movements of ferrets in the wild. The results generated information on choices that ferrets make in the location of burrows, selection of resources, and avoidance of predators. Another study described comparisons of wild-born, captive-born, and translocated ferrets. Researchers also reported efforts to create a predictive model of risk from predators such as coyotes and great-horned owls.
Continued recovery of the black-footed ferret requires conservation and restoration of colonies with high densities of burrow openings and numerous prairie dogs. The articles in the Journal's special feature on ferrets present information to assist scientists in their efforts to restore populations of this charismatic carnivore.
Full text of “Interface Between Black-Footed Ferret Research and Operational Conservation,” and other articles in this special section of the Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 92, No. 4, August 2011, are available at: http://www.asmjournals.org/
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About the Journal of Mammalogy
The Journal of Mammalogy, the flagship publication of the American Society of Mammalogists, is produced six times per year. A highly respected scientific journal, it details the latest research in the science of mammalogy and was recently named one of the top 100 most influential journals of biology and medicine in the last century by the Special Libraries Association. For more information, visit http://www.mammalogy.org/.
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