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Home/Species/ Black-footed Ferret

Mustela nigripes

(Audubon and Bachman, 1851)

Black-footed Ferret

G1Critically Imperiled Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G1Critically ImperiledGlobal Rank
EndangeredIUCN
MediumThreat Impact
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain (U.S. Government Work), via ECOS.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102031
Element CodeAMAJF02040
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNEndangered
CITESAppendix I
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyMustelidae
GenusMustela
Other Common Names
black-footed ferret (EN) Putois d'Amérique (FR)
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Taxonomic Comments
Some have suggested that M. nigripes may be conspecific with Old World M. eversmanii (see Wozencraft, in Wilson and Reeder 2005). However, the two have been been accepted as distinct species by all major North American sources for many years.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-04
Change Date2001-08-16
Edition Date2011-04-05
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Threat ImpactMedium
Range Extent<100-250 square km (less than about 40-100 square miles)
Number of Occurrences6 - 20
Rank Reasons
Formerly widespread in central North America; virtually or actually exterminated from the wild by 1987, primarily as a result of prairie dog and predator control actions; captive breeding and reintroductions in several areas have been successful at establishing reproducing populations.
Range Extent Comments
The range formerly encompassed a large area of the Great Plains, mountain basins, and semi-arid grasslands of North America. Subsequently the species was extirpated virtually everywhere. The last known wild population existed in the vicinity of Meeteetse, Wyoming, until early 1987. Ferrets from that area were captured and used for captive breeding. The species was reintroduced in Shirley Basin, Wyoming, in the early 1990s; since then it has also been reintroduced in South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Chihuahua (Federal Register, 13 April 1993, 27 June 1994, 18 August 1994, 20 March 1996, 29 April 1997; Bard 2002).
Occurrences Comments
At present, populations exist at several reintroduction sites in Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Chihuahua (USFWS 2000, Bard 2002).
Threat Impact Comments
The species was extirpated from most of the former large range mainly as a result of prairie dog and predator control programs. Canine distemper, in conjunction with captures for captive breeding, resulted in extirpation of the last known wild population by early 1987. See Forrest et al. (1988) and Thorne and Williams (1988) for information on the distemper-caused decline that occurred in 1985.

Black-footed ferrets are highly susceptible to sylvatic plague. In nature, they could be exposed either by fleabite or consumption of infected prey. This disease has severely hampered efforts to restore ferrets to their historical range. Experimental results indicate that black-footed ferrets can be immunized against plague (Rocke et al. 2004). However, control of plague in black-footed ferrets and the ultimate recovery of the species will require control of the disease in their primary prey (prairie dogs) (Rocke et al. 2004).

Predation by coyote and badger and dispersal have been the primary problems at the Shirley Basin site (1994, End. Sp. Tech. Bull. 19(1):10, 13).

Reading and Kellert (1993) found that ranchers within a proposed reintroduction site in Phillips County, Montana, were antagonistic toward the reintroduction program. As of 2005, there was an on-going conflict between ranchers wanting to control prairie dog populations on grazing lands (through poisoning and recreational shoorting) and those wishing to protect and expand ferret habitat (i.e., prairie dog populations).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

This carnivore is shaped like a mink but the dorsal color is yellowish brown or buff, with a brownish wash on the back; belly is slightly paler; tail tip and feet are black or at least dark; the face has a dark mask around the eyes, with white on the face above and below the mask (Whitaker 1996).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Weasels are brown above and whitish or yellowish below; mink is almost entirely dark brown to black; weasels and mink lack the dark mask.

Habitat

This species is limited to open habitat, the same habitat used by prairie dogs: grasslands, steppe, and shrub steppe. Resting and birthing sites are in underground burrows, generally made by prairie dogs. It has been estimated that about 40-60 hectares of prairie dog colony are needed to support one ferret. See Biggins et al. (in Oldemeyer et al. 1993) for information on evaluating areas as potential ferret habitat; factors include size of prairie dog complex, prairie dog population density, spatial arrangement of prairie dog colonies, potential for disease in prairie dogs and ferrets, potential for prairie dog expansion, abundance of predators, future resource conflicts and ownership stability, and public and landowner attitudes.

Ecology

Secretive, rarely observed except at night. Probably solitary except during breeding season. Closely associated with prairie dogs. May range over area of up to 100 ha during 3-8 day period in winter (Rickart 1987). Two reintroduced ferrets in Shirley Basin moved three and five miles before settling. See Forrest et al. 1988 for population attributes of Meeteetse colony, 1981-1985.

Reproduction

In captivy, copulation occurred in March and early April. Gestation was 42 and 45 days for 1 female in 2 breeding seasons. In wild, litter size in South Dakota averaged 3.5 (range 1-5) (Hillman and Clark 1980), 3.3 at emergence in Wyoming (Forrest et al. 1988). Young appear above ground usually in July, disperse in fall. At least some females reproduce as yearlings (Forrest et al. 1988).
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceous
Other Nations (2)
CanadaNX
ProvinceRankNative
SaskatchewanSXYes
AlbertaSXYes
United StatesN1
ProvinceRankNative
ColoradoS1Yes
NebraskaSHYes
New MexicoS1Yes
WyomingS1Yes
Navajo NationSXYes
South DakotaS1Yes
TexasSXYes
MontanaS1Yes
OklahomaSXYes
North DakotaS1Yes
KansasS1Yes
ArizonaS1Yes
UtahS1Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
1 - Residential & commercial developmentSmall (1-10%)Extreme or 71-100% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areasSmall (1-10%)Extreme or 71-100% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
1.2 - Commercial & industrial areasUnknownExtreme or 71-100% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2 - Agriculture & aquacultureSmall (1-10%)Extreme or 71-100% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2.1 - Annual & perennial non-timber cropsSmall (1-10%)Extreme or 71-100% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2.3 - Livestock farming & ranchingPervasive - largeSlight or 1-10% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
5 - Biological resource useUnknownSerious - moderateHigh (continuing)
5.1 - Hunting & collecting terrestrial animalsUnknownSerious - moderateHigh (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseasesPervasive - restrictedSerious - moderateHigh (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseasesPervasive - restrictedSerious - moderateHigh (continuing)
8.2 - Problematic native species/diseasesPervasive - restrictedSerious - moderateHigh (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (3)
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
South Dakota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Indian CreekBuffalo Gap National Grassland24,666
Texas (1)
AreaForestAcres
Big CreekNational Forests in Texas1,447
References (37)
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  2. Bard, D. 2002. Black-footed ferrets return to Mexico. Endangered Species Bulletin 27(2):36-37.
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  5. Brigham Young University. 1986. The black-footed ferret. Great Basin Nat. Mem. No. 8:1-208.
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