American Prairie’s National Discovery Center will be hosting In Celebration of the Endangered Black-Footed Ferret: An All-Day Event with Staff of the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center. This special all-day event includes presentations by staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center near Carr, Colorado, fun ferret-related activities, and a visit by a live black-footed ferret! American Prairie’s National Discovery Center is located at 302 W. Main in Lewistown. Admission is free.
The event runs from 10am – 4pm with fun and educational activities for kids, plus a close-up look at a live black-footed ferret which will be on display throughout the day. Staff from the Ferret Center will answer questions about the rare animal on display and the endangered species in general. At 1pm, Ferret Center Outreach Specialist Kimberly Fraser and Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Coordinator Tina Jackson will give a presentation about the history and status of the endangered black-footed ferrets, current efforts to save them from extinction, and what it takes to care for the most endangered mammal in North America. They will also discuss how staff cares for “Elizabeth Ann,” the world’s first cloned endangered animal, as well as the two most recently cloned ferrets, “Noreen” and “Antonia.” They will also discuss newly developed genomic strategies to deal with diseases threatening the species’ existence.
About the Black-Footed Ferret
Black-Footed Ferrets historically ranged throughout western North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Loss of habitat and the destruction of their main food source (prairie dogs) decimated the ferret population. Sylvatic plague, a non-native disease, also contributed to the decline of prairie dog and ferret populations. By the late 1970s, black-footed ferrets were considered extinct. In 1981, however, a dog named “Shep,” owned by ranchers John and Lucille Hogg, killed a ferret on their ranch outside of Meeteetse, Wyoming. The Hoggs alerted authorities, which led to the discovery of the last colony of black-footed ferrets on Earth, located on the nearby Pitchfork Ranch. Biologists and wildlife specialists flooded into the area to study the colony of roughly 124 ferrets. Unfortunately, after a few years, the ferret colony’s population declined rapidly, mostly due to the effects of sylvatic plague. In 1986, when there were only 18 left alive, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the crucial decision to capture all the remaining Meeteetse ferrets, from which they would start a captive breeding program to ensure the species survival. After years of frustration in successfully breeding the ferrets and keeping the kits alive, the situation improved dramatically. The last Meeteetse ferret captured, named Scarface, was an extremely successful breeder and the captive ferret population took off! Today, all the ferrets in existence are descendants of Scarface. Currently, there are six captive breeding sites, among them, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Phoenix Zoo, Toronto Zoo, and the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center near Carr, Colorado (where most ferrets are born and prepared for reintroduction throughout the US, southern Canada, and northern Mexico). Presently, there are approximately 280 black-footed ferrets at captive breeding facilities and 500 in the wild.
About the Presenters
Kimberly Fraser is Outreach Specialist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado. She has been with the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Program since 2009. Kimberly’s focus is supporting the many partners from State, Federal, Tribal, NGO and private landowners that participate in the recovery program, and is responsible for public outreach through social media. She is also the Black-footed Ferret Program Coordinator at the Museum of Discovery in Fort Collins, Colorado. That museum houses the Recovery Program’s education ferrets and one of the best live BFF displays in the U.S. Kimberly is passionate about the BFF Recovery Program and the conservation efforts to save one of the most endangered mammals in North America.
Tina Jackson, Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recently joined the Ferret Center team after 30 years with the State of Colorado. For the last 20 years she served as a Species Conservation Coordinator with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In that position, she was the conservation and recovery lead for over 70 species, including black-footed ferrets, black-tailed prairie dogs, Preble’s and New Mexico meadow jumping mice, bats, and reptiles throughout Colorado. She represented CPW on the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team Conservation Subcommittee, the Prairie Dog Conservation Team, the Preble’s Meadow Jumping Mouse Recovery Team, the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse Recovery Team, the Colorado Bat Working Group, and the Colorado Chapter of Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. Tina was the lead for the Colorado Black-footed Ferret Working Group, the Colorado White-nose Syndrome Working Group, the Preble’s Meadow Jumping Mouse Recovery Team, and the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team Conservation Subcommittee. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental, Population, Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Law and Policy from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the nationwide breeding, protection, and reintroduction of the black-footed ferret. Located near Carr, Colorado, this restricted access facility houses hundreds of ferrets, including the clones, and prepares them for reintroduction to sites around the western US, southern Canada, and northern Mexico.