Black-footed ferret conservation status

As of 2015, Mustela nigripes (black-footed ferret) has been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A previous assessment in 1996 declared it “Extinct in the Wild”, but since then there have been huge efforts to reestablish wild populations. From early 2015 there have been approximately 295 wild-born individuals released into reestablished populations, however these populations are very small and restricted, and only a few of the populations at the sites where the species has been reintroduced are viable (Belant et al. 2015). As of 2015 there were 206 mature individuals existing in “self-sustaining, free-living populations” (Belant et al. 2015), but that number was continually decreasing. M.nigripes was formerly widespread in central North America, but declined to near extinction in the 20th century. This was a result of actions taken to control prairie-dog (Cynomys) populations, which the black-footed ferret is highly dependent on (Biggins and Godbey 2003, as cited by Belant et al. 2015 ), as well as the spread of canine distemper and sylvatic plague caused by Yersinia pestis (Biggins and Godbey 1995, Biggins et al. 1998, as cited by Belant et al. 2015). Black-footed ferrets are directly affected by disease through infection, and indirectly through the infection and mortality of the prairie-dogs that make up the ferrets’ entire prey base. The conversion of grasslands for agricultural uses and commercial development is also a major threat to M.nigripes, as is the decrease in genetic diversity which, along with the “concomitant increase in inbreeding” (Bronson et al. 2007, as cited by Belant et al. 2015) may lead do a decrease in the fitness of black-footed ferrets through—among other things—“immune system dysfunction and reduced reproductive success” (Bronson et al. 2007, as cited by Belant et al. 2015).