Conservation efforts to restore black-footed ferrets in Colorado reaches milestone

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is celebrating 10 years of efforts to bring back the black-footed ferrets to our state. In 1967, the animals were listed as endangered and then later believed to be extinct.

In 1981, a small colony was found living in Wyoming. The animals eat prairie dogs and take over their homes. The black-footed ferrets essentially disappeared in the wild due to habitat loss and widespread poisoning of prairie dog colonies and disease. 

"Only seven of these rescued black-footed ferrets turned out to be breeders," said Tina Jackson, CPW's species conservation coordinator. "We call them the 'Magnificent Seven' because all the ferrets we've released since then are descended from them."

Now, Colorado is focused on bringing black-footed ferrets back to the Eastern Plains but those ferrets have to show they can survive in the wild before they are released. Colorado is one of 8 states involved with the recovery of the species through reintroduction. 

CPW has posted a video about the efforts to restore the black-footed ferret that can be watched here: https://youtu.be/zqruCkAroyU