The black-footed ferret is one of the most endangered animals in the world. Once inhabiting the grasslands of the western Great Plains, the black-footed ferret declined with the loss of the North American prairie ecosystem. Prairie dogs are the ferret’s primary prey, and only two percent of the original prairie dog habitat remains today.
The Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Plan, developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, emphasizes natural breeding programs, developing assisted breeding, especially artificial insemination, and establishing multiple reintroduction sites.
The black-footed ferret breeding program depends on computerized matchmaking, ensuring that the most genetically appropriate individuals are mated together. This genetic management occurs through a Species Survival Plan, a group of zoos and conservation organizations working together to save the species. From those original 18 animals, approximately 250 ferrets reside in breeding facilities and about 800 animals are now in the wild.