Today’s special animal friend is the Black-footed Ferret, Mustela nigripes. This small, North American carnivore is native to the Great Plains, where, historically, their range coincided with the range of their main food source, the prairie dog. Prairie dogs made up over 90% of the diet of black-footed ferrets observed in their native environment. However, the fossil record suggests that this “obligate predator-prey relationship” emerged only after the early ferrets in the Americas had eradicated other ground-dwelling and burrowing small mammals. Other prey of extant ferrets includes a variety of small mammals and birds.
The ferret’s body is long and slender, slightly under 2 feet in length, with a tail about 5 inches long. Their weight is typically two pounds or so, which is about the same weight as a prairie dog. They have a long neck and short, stout legs. Their feet are completely covered with black fur on both the tops and the soles, covering their very sharp claws. Their body fur is pale brown, ticked with black on the neck and back. Their ears are small, and they have a black mask over their eyes. Their teeth are numerous, sharp, and strong.
They are a solitary, nocturnal animal, hunting prairie dogs asleep in their burrows and avoiding other animals except during mating. Adult females maintain a home range, based on a prairie dog colony, which may be traversed by several males. They deliver from one to five kits in May or June and care for them until September or October, when the family disperses. Population growth is slow.
The population of black-footed ferrets suffered a drastic decline, along with the population of prairie dogs, in the 19th and 20th centuries. Causes of mortality included hunting, exposure to poison in prairie dog burrows, habitat loss, and an outbreak of plague (Yersinia pestis, the Black Death). They are also susceptible to canine distemper, which is spread by a variety of small mammals. They were believed to be extinct in the wild during the mid- to late-20th century, before a wild population was found in Wyoming in 1981. A successful captive breeding and wild-population restoration effort over the succeeding forty years has resulted in a wild population estimated at 1,400 individuals.
In general, the ongoing threat to black-footed ferrets in the wild is their relationship with prairie dogs, which are a major pest in agricultural and ranching areas. The U.S. government has programs supporting ferret restoration, on the one hand, and prairie dog removal, on the other hand, which immediately conflict with one another. No doubt someone makes a fair bit of money off all of it. Oh, did I say that out loud?
Inbreeding following the species’ drastic decline leaves the black-footed ferret vulnerable to extinction even as the wild population increases. One new strain of disease, and splat. A cloning program at the San Diego Zoo is intended to address this risk. In December of 2020, a female ferret, “Elizabeth Ann,” was born through cloning from a female who died in the 1980s. Elizabeth Ann is adorable, but more importantly, her genome is three times as diverse – however they measure that - as that of a naturally-born individual.
Additional cloning efforts and the breeding of cloned individuals have the potential to substantially strengthen the black-footed ferret’s long-term prospects. On the other hand ... unintended consequences ... use your imagination ... ferret apocalypse ...
We will hope for the best.
I first thought that said "Black-footed Parrot." My bad.
Now that that's out of the way, I can finish reading the article. ;o])