In 1979, the last black-footed ferret in captivity died, and the species was declared extinct.
This had been the only ferret native to North America, and we had lost it because of ranchers’ extermination of prairie dogs (the black-footed ferret’s main diet) and because of sylvatic plague (caused by the same bacterium responsible for the Black Plague — yipe!)
But then, this happened:
MEETEETSE, Wyo. — At about 3 a.m. on Sept. 26, 1981, cattle rancher John Hogg and his wife, Lucille, were awakened by furious barking by their dog just outside the bedroom window.
"I figured Shep got in a tangle with a porcupine, so I went back to sleep," Hogg recalled recently.
Later that morning, Hogg investigated. He found the carcass of a strange little animal. He had never seen one like it before, although he had lived all his life in this part of northwestern Wyoming. Resembling a mink, it had a black mask, black feet and a black-tipped tail. It also had a broken back.
Hogg thought it was a mink. He showed it to his wife, then threw it over the front-yard fence, into a field. Later that morning, Lucille Hogg asked her husband to retrieve the animal, explaining she wanted to take it to a Meeteetse taxidermist for mounting.
When the taxidermist examined the carcass, however, he looked up and said: "I can't touch this. This is an endangered species. It's a black-footed ferret."
Further examination showed that there was a small population in and around Meeteetse that numbered possibly over 100. As late as 1985, the colony was thought by some to be potentially viable. But by 1987 it had declined perilously, and conservationists worried we were about to lose the black-footed ferret again, so they rounded up all that were left. The first few attempts at breeding in captivity had failed, and many wild ferrets only live a year or two. The total number of ferrets in captivity was 18, and the future of the species would depend on the successful breeding of these individuals by the Wyoming Game & Fish Department and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The hope was that one day the ferret could return to Meeteetse and other places throughout the western United States. But for now, live black-footed ferrets had not been spotted anywhere else, and the species was considered to be extinct in the wild.
However, in 1987, the first kits were born in captivity at Sybille, Wyoming, and researchers continued to learn more about the ferret, helping them to be more and more successful at breeding. By 1989, they had gotten the captive population up to 120. There was some hope! Other breeding centers in Colorado, Arizona, and Kentucky got in on the act.
In 1991, forty-nine of the ferrets were ready for reintroduction into the wild, which first occurred at Shirley Basin, Wyoming. Within a year, some wild-born kits were spotted there. It began to look as if the species was going to have a shot.
Fast forward to 2017, and the wild population is now thought to be 1,400 individuals, across several states where reintroduction has taken place over the years. Their recovery has been much faster than many other reintroduced species, thanks to good reintroduction methodology — and peanut-butter-flavored sylvatic plague vaccine tablets! They are not out of the woods yet, but if some more sites are identified and the momentum continues, the species will have been pulled from the very brink of extinction to an again-thriving population:
The federal government’s goal is to establish a self-sustaining population of 3,000 nationwide in at least nine states where ferrets lived in the past. Each pocket would have to hold at least 100 ferrets. Then, federal officials say, they will be in a position to begin to consider whether ferrets can be removed from the nation’s expanding list of endangered species.
In July of this year, after a 30-year absence, the black-footed ferret was finally reintroduced to Meeteetse, its last original wild home.
“Bringing the black-footed ferret home to Meeteetse is an extraordinary achievement, which is a source of pride not only for the citizens of Wyoming, but for conservationists everywhere. Countless partners have worked together for decades to ensure the survival of this remarkable species, and their diligent efforts are just as notable as the ferret's return. Today is a special day for those partners, for all of us at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and for anyone who values having wild creatures on the landscape where they belong,” said Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
How is the new colony doing? Quite well, thank you — last week it was reported that wild-born kits were found at Meeteetse! In fact, there are likely three new litters. The first kit has a special connection to Meeteetse as well:
The kit was found with two adult females. The mother is thought to be Lucille, a ferret released last year named by the Hogg family in honor of the late Lucille Hogg. Her family owns the Lazy BV ranch and their dog brought home a dead ferret more than 35 years ago and confirmed the species was not extinct. “Ferrets are not a long-lived species, so it is important to have multiple generations of ferrets on the landscape. To have a connection to Lucille Hogg is exciting and fitting,” said Walker.
Welcome home, Black Feet!