Biologists have begun re-introducing endangered black-footed ferrets in Aubrey Valley near Seligman. It’s Arizona’s first ferret reintroduction in more than 30 years.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department released 10 captive-bred ferrets in November and plans to continue reintroductions every spring and fall for the next three years.
Biologist Holly Hicks says the ferrets are North America’s most endangered mammal and they’re a keystone predator that feed on prairie dogs.
"We’ve very much over time manipulated predators," Hicks says. "We’ve taken grizzly bears out of most areas, wolves are very restricted; we’ve taken a lot of predators out. This is restoring a predator back to the landscape."
This is the second attempt to establish a self-sustaining population of ferrets in Aubrey Valley. Reintroductions in the 90s and 2000s were successful, but the population crashed after 2012 due to sylvatic plague. The newly released ferrets are all vaccinated against plague.
