Black Footed Ferret
By Brenda Reyes
Basic Info a About Black Footed Ferret
The endangered black-footed ferret is a member of the weasel family. It is the only ferret native to North America.Black-footed ferrets once numbered in the tens of thousands, but were brought to the brink of extinction by the 1960s.The black-footed ferret has a tan body with black legs and feet, a black tip on the tail and a black mask. The ferret has short legs with large front paws and claws developed for digging.Prarie dogs make up more than 90% of the black-footed ferret's diet. A ferret may eat more than 100 prairie dogs in one year. Black-footed ferrets are also known to eat ground squirrels, small rodents, rabbits and birds.
Why did they almost go extinct?!
What is Being Done To Protect Them
After the black-footed ferret population was decimated by disease, biologists determined that the remaining wild ferrets were not a viable breeding population. The last 12 ferrets were captured and combined with 6 ferrets already in captivity to bring the world total to 18 ferrets, all in captivity, in 1987. Captive breeding has been successful.