Mustela nigripes

The black-footed ferret is one of the rarest mammals in the world and the only species of ferret in North America. It is 31-41 cm long, with a tail length of 11-15 cm and a weight of 0.8-1 kg. Like most members of the genus Mustelus, males are larger than females. The body is slender. Males are slightly larger, with yellow fur on the upper body and grayish white underparts. They have a dark tail with a black tail tip. The mouth, face, throat, and forehead are white, and the transition color between black and white is tan. There is a black mask around the eyes, a black nose tip, and very short legs with strong forelimbs and large forefoots for digging.

Historically, the black-footed ferret ranged throughout the interior of North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico. The black-footed ferret is the only species of ferret native to North America. As of 2016, the ferret is found in the wild in only three locations in the United States: northeastern Montana, western South Dakota, and southeastern Wyoming. All three of these locations were reintroduced after the original black-footed ferret was extirpated. Populations of the black-footed ferret also exist in seven zoos and breeding facilities.
This species is a steppe-dwelling animal that inhabits deserts or dunes, steppes, arid steppe valleys, and intermontane basins between 1,600 and 2,200 meters above sea level. It lives in short and medium grass steppes where prairie dogs (Cynomys species) are abundant. A black-footed ferret requires an area of ​​40-60 hectares for prey.

Black-footed ferret (scientific name: Mustela nigripes) is a small carnivorous mammal native to North America and the only mustelid native to North America, with no subspecies.

Black-footed ferret is a burrowing animal. Alert, flexible, active at night. The territory is about 50 hectares. Generally active alone, but will gather during the estrus season from March to April. Black-footed ferrets have keen hearing, vision and smell, and urine is an important communication tool used to mark their territory or the route home.

Black-footed ferrets are nocturnal animals and like to be alone. They never dig holes to build nests themselves, but use the abandoned caves of prairie dogs as a place to rest and hunt. In winter, they always reduce their activities as much as possible, and can even hide in their nests for 5 to 6 days without coming out to move and forage. Black-footed ferrets have a strong sense of territory, and same-sex fights often occur for territory.

Black-footed ferrets prey on marmots and ground squirrels, mainly prairie dogs, which account for about 90% of the total food of black-footed ferrets. They cannot survive without marmots. A black-footed ferret eats about 100 marmots a year, and sometimes even lives in their burrows.

Black-footed ferrets are sexually dimorphic, with males larger than females. During the mating season, females actively pursue males. The pregnancy mode of black-footed ferrets is called "delayed implantation", in which the fertilized egg begins to develop only when conditions are suitable for pregnancy. Female black-footed ferrets are sexually mature at one year old and have three pairs of nipples. The breeding season generally lasts until March-April. The gestation period is 35-45 days. Each litter has 1-6 pups, with an average of 3.5 pups. The pups are blind at birth and stay in the burrow for about 42 days before leaving the den. In the summer of July-August, females live with their pups. Newborn pups are not weak. When they are just born, they can reach half or even three-quarters the size of adult black-footed ferrets. They mature and leave the den to live independently in the fall.

The main reasons for the sharp decline in the number of black-footed ferrets are: the number of prairie dogs, the main food source, has been decreasing. In the 20th century, in order to eliminate this rodent that is destructive to pastures, ranchers put a lot of poison bait. While prairie dogs were annihilated, the black-footed ferrets that relied on them as their main food source also suffered; habitat destruction; natural disasters and diseases. Although black-footed ferrets have fewer conflicts with humans and have not been hunted in large numbers, foreign diseases, habitat loss, and a decrease in the number of groundhogs have dealt a heavy blow to this relatively vulnerable species. Their number has always been relatively small, and it was not until 1851 that they were considered an independent species. At that time, the number of black-footed ferrets was very small and almost extinct. The black-footed ferret also became the rarest endangered mammal in North America.

The black-footed ferret became extinct in Canada in 1937 and was not found in the United States for many years in 1967. Wildlife experts believed that the black-footed ferret had become extinct in the late 1970s. However, in the mid-1980s, about 120 black-footed ferrets were found in Wyoming, USA. In 1985, most of the black-footed ferrets were killed by two sudden outbreaks of diseases. In 1986, the last 18 ferrets that survived were captured by people. Under the joint planning of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, all black-footed ferrets were captured from the wild for artificial breeding, and a captive breeding program was started. After efforts to domesticate and rewild, it has been reintroduced in eight states in the United States (Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Kansas and New Mexico), one state in Mexico and one state in Canada. In 2007, the number of black-footed ferrets in the wild reached 750, and its endangered level has been reduced to endangered (EN), and the number is still steadily increasing.

On February 18, 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the first cloning of an endangered animal - a black-footed ferret. It is reported that the black-footed ferret was successfully cloned with the help of frozen genes from a ferret that died more than 30 years ago and a "surrogate mother".

Listed in Appendix I, Appendix II and Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 2019 Edition.

Listed in the Red List of Threatened Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) 2015 ver 3.1 - Endangered (EN).

Protect wild animals and eliminate game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!