CASPER, Wyo. — April 2 is also known as National Ferret Day, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of Wyoming is using the occasion to honor the black-footed ferret.
The species, the only native wild ferret in North America, was listed as Endangered in 1967 and once thought extinct until a colony was found on a ranch near Meeteetse in 1981.
Since then, Wyoming Game and Fish, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the BLM, and other public and private partners have worked to reintroduce captive-bred black-footed ferrets into the wild, including in the Shirley Basin and near Meeteetse.
Game and Fish works to maintain at least 35 individuals at the historic Meeteetse recovery site, a baseline set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The species is a prairie dog specialist, depending almost exclusively on prairie dogs for food and burrows for habitat, according to Game and Fish. This makes them susceptible to plague, which is a common disease in prairie dogs. Populations are monitored for the disease and some are vaccinated.
Since discovery of the Meeteetse colony, around 4,000 black-footed ferrets have been reintroduced to the wild, Game and Fish said.
