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Mustela nigripes (Audubon & Bachman, 1851)

Black-footed ferret

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

 

 

Conservation Status

Rediscovered twice. First rediscovery was in 1955 (Scott, 1965).

Last record: 1975

Rediscovered in 1981

IUCN RedList status: Endangered

 

Distribution

Canada, Mexico & USA

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

 

 

Media

A documentary called "Ferret Town": http://www.wyofile.com/column/ferret-town-tells-story-species-fight-survival/

 

References

Ali, Nadya. (2022). Understanding Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors Driving Infertility in the Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes). PhD Dissertation, University of Chicago. [Abstract]

 

Anonymous. (1964). A preliminary list of rare mammals including those believed to be rare but concerning which detailed information is still lacking. IUCN Bulletin 11(Special Supplement): 4 pp.

Anonymous. (1981a). Positive sighting of a Ferret is first in more than 2 years. The New York Times, Thursday, October 15th.

Anonymous. (1981b). Ferret, feared extinct, is found in Wyoming. The New York Times, Saturday, November 7th.

Ayers, C.R., Belant, J.L., Eads, D.A., Jachowski, D.S. and Millspaugh, J.J. 2014. Investigation of factors affecting Black-footed Ferret litter size. Western North American Naturalist 74: 108-115.

Banfield, A. W. F. (1974). The Mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press.

Bard, D. 2002. Black-footed ferrets return to Mexico. Endangered Species Bulletin 27(2): 36-37.

Belant, J., Biggins, D., Garelle, D., Griebel, R.G. & Hughes, J.P. 2015. Mustela nigripes. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T14020A45200314. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T14020A45200314.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2017.

Biggins, D.E. and Godbey, J.L. 1995. Black-footed ferrets. In: E. LaRoe, G. Farris, C. Puckett, P. Doran and M. Mac (eds), Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U. S. plants, animals and ecosystems, pp. 106–108. United States Department of the Interior National Biological Service, Washington, DC, USA.

Biggins, D.E. and Godbey, J.L. 2003. Challenges to reestablishment of free-ranging populations of Black-footed Ferrets. Comptes Rendus - Biologies 326: 104-111.

Biggins, D.E. and Schroeder, M.H. 1988. Historical and present status of the Black-footed Ferret. In: USDA Forest Service (ed.), USDA Forest Service General Technical Report. Proceedings of the Eighth Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop. Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

Biggins, D.E., Godbey, J.L., Hanebury, L.R., Luce, B., Marinari, M.R., Matchett and Vargas, A. 1998. The effect of rearing methods on survival of reintroduced Black-footed Ferrets. Journal of Wildlife Management 62: 643-653.

Biggins, D.E., Lockhart, J.M. and Godbdy, J.L. 2006. Evaluating habitat for Black-footed Ferrets: revision of an existing model. In: Roells, J.E., Miller, B.J., Godbey, J.L. and Biggins, D.E. (eds), Recovery of the Black-footed Ferret: progress and continuing challenges., pp. 143–150. U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

Biggins, D.E., Miller, B.J., Hanebury, L.R., Oakleaf, B., Farmer, A. H., Crete R. and Dood, A. 1993. A technique for evaluating Black-footed Ferret habitat. In: J.L. Oldemeyer, D.E. Biggins, B.J. Miller and R. Crete (eds), Management of prairie dog complexes for the reintroduction of the Black-footed Ferret., pp. 73–88. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA.

Boggess, E. K., Henderson, F. R. and Choate, J. R. (1980). A Black-footed Ferret from Kansas. J. Mammal. 61(3): 571.

Bronson, E., Bush, M., Viner, T., Murray, S., Wisely, S.M. and Deem, S.L. 2007. Mortality of captive black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) at Smithsonian's National Zoological Park, 1989–2004. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 38: 169-176.

Cahalane, V. H. (1954). Status of the Black-footed Ferret. J. Mammal. 33: 418-424.

Clark, T. W. (1976). The Black-footed Ferret. Oryx 13(3): 275-280.

Clark, T. W. and Dorn, R. D. (1981). Rare and endangered vascular plants and vertebrates of Wyoming, 2nd ed. University of Minnesota. 66 pp.

Corey, Lauren. (2021). A Black-Footed Ferret and U.S. Law: Lessons Learned from the First Successful Clone of a Native U.S. Endangered Species. North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology 23(2): 338-381.

Eads, D.A. and Biggins, E.A. 2015. Plague bacterium as a transformer species in prairie dogs and the grasslands of western North America. Conservation Biology.

Eads, D.A., Jachowski, D.S., Biggins, D.E., Livieri, T.M., Matchett, M.R. and Millspaugh, J.J. 2013. Resource selection models are useful in predicting fine-scale distributions of Black-footed Ferrets in prairie dog colonies. Western North American Naturalist 72: 206-215.

Eads, D.A., Millspaugh, J.J., Biggins, D.E., Livieri, T.M. and Jachowski, D.S. 2011. Postbreeding resource selection by adult Black-footed Ferrets in the Conata Basin, South Dakota. Journal of Mammalogy 92: 760-770.

Erickson, R. C. (1973). Some Black-footed Ferret Research Needs. In: Proceedings of the Black-footed Ferret and Prairie Dog Workshop, Sept. 4-6, 1973.South Dakota State Univ., Brookings.

Fisher, Diana O. (2011). Trajectories from extinction: where are missing mammals rediscovered? Global Ecology & Biogeography 20: 415-425. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00624.x [Appendix S1]

Forrest, S. C. & Biggins, D. (1988) The Black-footed Ferret Recovery Plan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, Colorado.

Forrest, S.C. , Biggins, D.E., Richardson, L., Clark, T.W., Campbell III, T.M., Fagerstone, K.A. and Thorne, E.T. 1988. Population attributes for the Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) at Meeteetse, Wyoming, 1981-1985. Journal of Mammalogy 69: 261-272.

Fortenberry, D. K. (1972). Characteristics of the Black-footed Ferret. Resource Publication 109. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Washington, D.C. 8 pp.

Fritts, Rachel A. (2020). Plague on the Prairie : the fight to save black-footed ferrets from the West's most insidious disease. Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing.

Garelle, D., Marinari, P. and Lynch C. 2014. Population analysis and breeding and transfer plan. Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes). AZA Population Management Center, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.

Genoways, Hugh G. (2021). Holocene Records of Nebraska Mammals. Zea Books. 89 pp.

Griebel, R.G. 2014. Black-footed Ferret conservation subcommittee annual report. Black-footed Ferret recovery implementation team executive committee.

Hall, E. R., and K. R. Kelson. 1959. The mammals of North America. Ronald Press Co., New York, 1:1-546; 2:547-1083 + 79.

Henderson, F. R., Springer, P. F. and Adrian, R. (1974). The Black-footed Ferret in South Dakota. Technical Bulletin No. 4. South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks.

Hillman, C. N. and Clark, T. W. (1980). Mustela nigripes. Mammalian Species 126: 1-3.

Hillman, C. N. and Linder, R. L. (1973). The Black-footed Ferret. In: Proceedings of the Black-footed Ferret and Prairie Dog Workshop, Sept. 4-6, 1973.South Dakota State Univ., Brookings.

Homolka, C. L. (1964). Our Rarest Mammal? Audubon 66(4): 244-256.

Jones, J. Knox Jnr., Carter, Dilford C., Genoways, Hugh H., Hoffmann, Robert S. and Rice, Dale W. (1986). Revised Checklist of North American Mammals North of Mexico, 1986. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Texas Tech University 107: 1-22.

Joslin, Paul and Maryanka, Daphne. (1968). Endangered Mammals of the World: Report on Status and Action Treatment. IUCN Publications, New Series, Supplementary Paper No. 13: 34 pp.

Kliver, Sergei et al. (2023). Chromosome-length genome assembly and karyotype of the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Journal of Heredity. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad035

Kodikara, Saritha et al. (2020). Inferring extinction date of a species using non‐homogeneous Poisson processes with a change‐point. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13542 [Abstract]

Lenhart, Lawrence. (2023). Backvalley Ferrets: A Rewilding of the Colorado Plateau. University of Georgia Press. 277 pp.

Matchett, Randy. (2016). Black-footed ferret restoration; history, challenges and current status. Intermountain Journal of Sciences 22(4): 94.

Melstrom, Richard T., Salau, Kehinde Rilwan and Shanafelt, David W. (n.d.). The optimal timing of reintroducing captive populations into the wild. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1711/1711.05995.pdf

Miller, B., Reading, R. P. and Forrest, S. 1996. Prairie night: Black-footed Ferrets and the Recovery of Endangered Species. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA.

Nowak, R. M. 2005. Walker's Carnivores of the world. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA and London, UK.

Owen, P. R., Bell, C. J. and Mead, E. M. (2000). Fossils, diet, and conservation of black-footed ferrets ([i]Mustela nigripes[/i]). J. Mammal., 81: 422-433.

Pastor, Adriana R. (2017). Investigating Enteric Coccidiosis in the Black-footed (Mustela nigripes) and Domestic Ferret (Mustela putorius furo). Thesis, The University of Guelph. xvi + 175 pp.

Rocke, Tonie E. (2023). Plague and Distemper: Threats to Black-footed Ferret Conservation, pp. 217-?. In: Jessup, David A. and Radcliffe, Robin. W. (eds). Wildlife Disease and Health in Conservation. Baltimore, MA: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Roelle, J. E., Miller, B. J., Godbey, J. L. and Biggins, D. E. 2006. Recovery of the Black-footed Ferret--Progress and Continuing Challenges: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations.

Sandler, Ronald L. et al. (2021). An ethical analysis of cloning for genetic rescue: Case study of the black-footed ferret. Biological Conservation 257: 109118.

Santymire, R. M. et al. (2018). Inbreeding causes decreased seminal quality affecting pregnancy and litter size in the endangered black‐footed ferret. Animal Conservation. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12466 [Abstract]

Saskatchewan Department of Tourism and Renewable Resources. (1978). The status of the Black-footed Ferret Mustela nigripes (Audubon and Bachman) in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Status reports and evaluations Vol. 1.

Scheffers, Brett R., Yong, Ding Li, Harris, J. Berton C., Giam, Xingli and Sodhi, Navjot S. (2011). The world’s rediscovered species: back from the brink? PLoS ONE 6(7): e22531. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022531 [Supporting Information (Table S1)]

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Schuler, Krysten et al. (2020). Sentinel coyote pathogen survey to assess declining black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) population in South Dakota, USA. J Wildl Dis. doi: https://doi.org/10.7589/JWD-D-20-00015 [Abstract]

Scott, Peter (ed.). (1965). Preliminary List of Rare Mammals and Birds, pp. 155-237. In: The Launching of a New Ark. First Report of the President and Trustees of the World Wildlife Fund. An International Foundation for saving the world's wildlife and wild places 1961-1964. London: Collins.

Smith, Donal et al. (2023). Extinct in the wild: The precarious state of Earth’s most threatened group of species. Science 379(6634): eadd2889. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.add2889

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Titus, Keifer L. and Jachowski, David S. (2021). Persistent negative stakeholder perspectives limit recovery of a critically endangered carnivore. Conservation Science and Practice 3(11): e526. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.526

Tretten, Tyler N. (2018). Rarely Observed Behaviors and Occurrences of Black-footed Ferrets Preconditioning for Wild Release 2014-2017.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2013. Recovery plan for the Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Williams ES, Mills K, Kwiatkowski DR, et al (1994) Plague in a Black-footed (Mustela nigripes) presence. J Wildl Dis 30: 581-585.

Williams ES, Thome ET, Appel MJG, Belitsky DW (1988) Canine Distemper in Black-Footed (Mustela nigripes) from Wyoming. J Wildl Dis 24: 385-398.

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Wozencraft, W.C. 2005. Order Carnivora. In: D.E. Wilson and D.M. Reeder (eds), Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third Edition, pp. 532-628. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

http://www.codyenterprise.com/news/local/article_2247e6ce-8dce-11e7-8825-ab2c8db1baf4.html

https://www.sheridanmedia.com/news/hey-phoenix-zoo-those-ferrets-are-meeteetse-wyoming98497

https://kdminer.com/news/2018/mar/18/help-sought-biannual-spotlighting-black-footed-fer/

http://www.fox15abilene.com/article/news/zoo-acquires-critically-endangered-black-footed-ferret/505-535505395

https://news.gcu.edu/2018/06/gcu-steps-up-for-black-footed-ferret-count/

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/05/black-footed-ferrets-airlifted-to-arizona/

http://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/final-black-footed-ferret-release-will-most-likely-happen-september#stream/0

http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/3065/mustela-nigripes-black-footed-ferret

https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/128984/1227040739-MIT.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

 

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Rediscovered twice. First rediscovery was in 1955 (Scott, 1965).