BLACK-FOOTED FERRET

Photo by Bob Gress
Used by permission

Federal Status:
Endangered

State Status:
Endangered

• Range:
  Dark Blue = Counties with designated critical habitat
  Light Blue = Historical records
• Comments: The black-footed ferret is considered the most endangered mammal in North America. In the distant past, it was highly regarded by the Plains Indians and used in headdresses during religious ceremonies. About 90 percent of this predator’s diet consists of prairie dogs. Prairie dogs have declined greatly and now inhabit only 1.5 million of the 700 million acres they once occupied. As prairie dog colonies shrank in size and number, blackfooted ferrets have suffered local extirpations and the species was even thought to be extinct until being rediscovered in Wyoming. Researchers have found ferrets will travel a maximum distance of 4.3 miles in a night. If prairie dog colonies are not nearby, ferrets become isolated, suffer from inbreeding and become even more vulnerable to diseases. Reintroductions from a Wyoming population have occurred in some states but not in Kansas. The last verified record in Kansas was in 1957.

Other Mammals on the Kansas T&E List