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| Agency seeks volunteer ranches to provide 'safe harbor' for endangered ferrets By Karl Puckett - Great Falls Tribune - 02/08/2013 Want to volunteer a ranch to harbor an endangered species? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to hear from you. The agency is working on a plan in which ranch owners in the West would willingly allow the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, a near-extinct member of the weasel family that once thrived amid colonies of prairie dogs, its main food. More... |
| Groups file lawsuit over white-tailed prairie dog By San Francisco Chronicle - 02/07/2013 Four conservation groups based in Wyoming, Colorado and Montana have filed a lawsuit seeking to compel federal officials to address the white-tailed prairie dog population. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said the species doesn't warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the groups disagree. More... |
| Prairie dogs could be saviors of Mexico's former prairies By Living on Earth - 01/30/2013 Prairie dogs used to rule the prairies of America and Mexico. But when ranchers moved in, prairie dogs were exterminated. Now, an ecologist says the black-tailed prairie dogs are critical for turning Mexico's desert back into prairie. More... |
| Land deal will help rural airports, Utah prairie dog By Amy Joi O'Donoghue - Deseret News - 01/29/2013 As part of an ongoing effort to preserve habitat for Utah prairie dogs yet offset their impacts to rural airports, 800 acres of school trust lands property will be sold to The Nature Conservancy. The transaction, announced Tuesday, happened with Federal Aviation Administration dollars, with the agency planning to pay $800,000 to the Utah School & Institutional Trust Lands Administration. In exchange, the conservancy will get 800 acres of prime prairie dog habitat on Johnson's Bench in Garfield County. More... |
| Feds announce black-footed ferret recovery effort By The Associated Press - Missoulian - 12/18/2012 A memorandum of understanding between federal and state agencies would allow routine grazing for property owners who agree to set aside land as black-footed ferret habitat. The Safe Harbor Agreement announced Monday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is part of an effort to boost the wild population of the endangered animal from 500 to 3,000 in the next 10 years. More... |
| 11-year-old protests prairie dog extermination at Lakewood city council By Will C. Holden - KDVR.com - 12/11/2012 On Sunday she laid down crosses in an open space to protest the extermination of prairie dogs in her Lakewood neighborhood. On Monday, 11-year-old Cymbre Smith took her protest to a city council meeting. Smith’s protest began after awakening over the weekend to find a colony of prairie dogs near her home had been exterminated due to a request from a group of protesting neighborhoods. More... |
| Science, culture merge Museum of Discovery opens By Robert Allen - Fort Collins Coloradoan - 11/10/2012 The wind meter swiftly increased — 10 mph, then 30, 40, 50 — to a tornado-force blast of nearly 80 mph as Nick Herlihy stood grinning in a tube the size of a phone booth. His clothes flapped rapidly as others watched from outside the Tornado Chamber at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. “I thought I was going to lose my glasses,” said Nick, 14. He was among the first to enter the north Old Town museum at 408 Mason Court on Saturday morning for its much-anticipated grand opening. More than 100 people shuffled through the doors after public officials spoke of the $26.7 million project’s innovation and fusion of science with culture. Endangered, black-footed ferrets dwell in a case near the museum entrance next to some preserved prairie dogs and other creatures. More... |
| Officials encouraged, not surprised by S.D. ferret sightings By David Hendee - Omaha World-Herald - 11/09/2012 The discovery of black-footed ferrets, where none were known to exist, has encouraged but not surprised federal officials on a mission to bring the endangered species back from the edge of extinction. An adult and two juvenile ferrets were discovered last week on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. A Nebraska environmental consulting company spotted and photographed the critters during a nocturnal spotlight survey of a prairie dog town. More... |
| Fall tour highlights how wildlife, livestock can benefit each other By Karla Christensen - The Prairie Star - 11/07/2012 Cattle and wildlife don’t just coexist, on the rangelands of Montana. They benefit each other. The fall tour of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR NWR) Working Group earlier this fall provided attendees a knowledge of the interaction between the two. More... |
| Game and Fish announces black-footed ferret spotlighting results Arizona Game and Fish Department - 10/25/2012 A record number of volunteers assisted in the effort to document the population of endangered black-footed ferrets in Aubrey Valley, just west of Seligman. The Arizona Game and Fish Department partnered with 144 volunteers for the fall spotlighting effort from Sept. 27-Oct. 1 to count the elusive predators. Spotlighting from dusk-to-dawn is the method used to capture the animals and document the population. More... |
| Commissioners OK updated prairie dog policies By John Fryar - Longmont Times-Call - 10/16/2012 Boulder County's prairie dog management policies now contain what the county staff calls "a vision" for expanding the county-owned Habitat Conservation Areas suitable for prairie dog colonies. An updated prairie dog management plan that Boulder County commissioners approved on Tuesday states an objective of maintaining 5,000 or more acres of such designated prairie-dog Habitat Conservation Areas in county grasslands. More... |
| “Return of the Prairie Bandit” honored with 2012 Conservation Education Award Wildlife.org - 10/15/2012 The award recognized Kenton Vaughan (Director), Mark Caswell (Cinematographer), Margus Jukkum (Sound Recordist) and Travis Livieri of Prairie Wildlife Research. More... |
| Nebraska has three of Top 10 ecotourist sites in the Great Plains Lincoln Journal Stars - 09/17/2012 The Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has announced the results of its survey to determine theTop 10 ecotourist sites in the Great Plains. Early this spring the center conducted a two-phase survey of 51 naturalists in nine states with knowledge of Great Plains ecotourism. The most frequently identified sites were then named as the region's Top 10 sites. More... |
| Ferrets’ return on hold By Royal McGregor - The Dickinson Press - 09/13/2012 The black-footed ferret, which had been thought twice extinct and has been on the endangered species list since 1967, is making a comeback. The resurgence of black-footed ferrets is due in large part to the National Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Program, a multi-partner project lead by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But plans to bring the ferrets back to North Dakota aren’t concrete. More... |
| Boulder County may expand its acreage of prairie dog habitat sites By John Fryar - Longmont Times-Call - 08/28/2012 Boulder County commissioners appear poised to set a goal of having 5,000 acres of county-owned lands designated as suitable habitat for prairie dogs, a goal that may include a 2020 target date. Commissioner Deb Gardner suggested Tuesday night that such a goal be incorporated into an update of Boulder County's procedures, policies and strategies for controlling and managing prairie dogs on county properties. More... |
| Game and Fish invites public to help count black-footed ferrets By Eric Zott - KPHO.com - 08/20/2012 The Arizona Game and Fish Department is looking for volunteers to lend a hand in the recovery of an endangered species - the black-footed ferret. Arizona Game and Fish Department spokesman Zen Mocarski said the public is needed to help count the numbers of black-footed ferrets in the Aubrey Valley in northwestern Arizona, near Seligman. From Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, Game and Fish will be conducting its annual fall spotlighting effort for the elusive and nocturnal animal. More... |
| Saving threatened Utah prairie dogs -- on private property By Nathan Rice - High Country News - 08/20/2012 When Curt Bagley learned he could get paid for the prairie dogs digging up his land, he had a change of heart toward the varmints he'd grown up shooting. On his family's cattle ranch in Greenwich, Utah, they'd had to learn to live with the destructive rodents since 1973, when Utah prairie dogs were federally protected. "If I had my druthers, I wouldn't have 'em," Bagley says. "But they're here, so I have to work with 'em." To Bagley and many other residents of southwest Utah, prairie dogs have been the bane of an otherwise peaceful existence. More... |
| How Do Grasslands Survive Drought? By Joseph Craine and Joe Fargione - Nature.org - 08/16/2012 Half the United States is currently gripped by drought. And our grasslands are taking a beating. But how grasslands have historically coped with the kinds of extreme drought we’re seeing today has always been a bit of a mystery — until now. A new study we co-authored for Nature Climate Change took on this question by gathering more than 400 species of grass from around the world and subjecting them to drought. More... |
| Great Plains: Experts agree conservation must include species biodiversity By JEAN WILLIAMS - Examiner - 07/23/2012 There has been a concerted effort by numerous wildlife conservation groups in recent years to protect and recover what remains of the North American Great Plains, prairie grasslands and the biodiversity of species that live there. Increasingly, experts acknowledge that controversial black-tailed prairie dogs are essential to preservation programs. Slowly, misconceptions about prairie dogs and the key role they play in healthy prairie ecosystems are changing. More... |
| Texas Parks and Wildlife establishing new prairie dog colony By Mike Leggett - Statesman - 07/21/2012 I killed a prairie dog once. I've never gotten over it. It was way up in the Panhandle, near the little town of Vega. We were there to hunt pheasants, and a local took us out to a very large town somewhere out on the plains. I had a rifle and I killed one, a long shot that worked somehow. But honestly, I just felt bad, and I've hated that feeling ever since. I liked the shot. I did not like the result. I understand there are lots of them, and I truly support people's right to do it, but I made up my mind that I'd never do it again. That was 40 years ago, and so far I've never taken part in another prairie dog shoot. More... |
| Appeals court affirms decision By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 07/17/2012 A Kansas Court of Appeals panel has affirmed a decision by Senior Judge Jack Lively, turning aside Logan County's request to let it poison prairie dogs where endangered black-footed ferrets have been reintroduced. The decision, handed down Friday, leaves in place a restraining order effectively limiting any poisoning of prairie dogs to a 90-foot barrier surrounding the nearly 10,000-acre complex where the ferrets have been reintroduced. More... |
| Is a prairie dog smarter than an industrial farmer? By Chris Turner - Mother Nature Network - 07/16/2012 Forgive me, but I’m going to start with a couple of very Canadian references here, and in stereotypical Canadian fashion, I'm going to be overly polite about it. Sorry. Ahem. Okay. So this spring – as every spring – Canadians watched the Stanley Cup playoffs by the millions. And this spring – as every spring – Canadian advertisers paid top dollar to air their best new ads. (From an advertiser’s point of view, CBC-TV’s flagship "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcast of the NHL playoffs is basically a Super Bowl drawn out nightly over two months.) More... |
| Prairie Dogs Become Prairie Gods; Have Humans Working for Them By Margaret Downing - Houston Press - 07/10/2012 A colony of black-tailed Prairie Dogs has been moved into a Texas Panhandle park and just to make sure the move would take -- local humans clawed through the earth, initiating the deep drilling that would follow. "Park staff pre-drilled several holes to encourage the animals to being making their dens," a release from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said. More... |
| Save the Ferret: Wildlife Experts Re-Train Endangered Black-Footed Ferrets to Survive in the Wild By CLAYTON SANDELL - ABC News - 07/07/2012 It's well after midnight on the South Dakota prairie and biologist Travis Livieri is on the hunt. "These can be extremely elusive creatures," Livieri said. "Sometimes it's kind of like searching for a needle in a haystack." Livieri shines a million-candlepower spotlight mounted on top of his pickup truck into the darkness, sweeping the beam of light left and right. Then suddenly, about 100 yards away, the reflection of shiny green eyes gives away one of the most endangered animals in the world. More... |
| Dinosaur National Monument seeks comments on prairie dog management plan By Craig Daily Press Staff Report - 07/05/2012 National Park Service staff will develop a management plan for white-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys leucurus) inhabitating developed areas at Dinosaur National Monument, the agency announced in a press release. More... |
| Prairie dog relocation goes nowhere By Deborah Grigsby - Elbert County News - 06/23/2012 Cattleman Dale Lasater, along with the assistance of wildlife experts, asked Elbert County for permission to relocate a population of up to 300 black-tailed prairie dogs to his ranch near Matheson. But opposition from residents as well as the Farm Bureau and Cattlemen’s Association has left the project a bust, said Elbert County Commissioner Kurt Schlegel. More... |
| Poisoning of rare prairie dogs infuriates wildlife advocates By JEAN WILLIAMS - Examiner - 06/18/2012 Last week, the city of Lubbock, Texas came into the International crosshairs of wildlife advocates, after a group of European tourists were guided to a prairie dog colony on private land, only to be told that parks and recreation officials had quietly arrived in the dead of night a few weeks earlier, to infuse the burrows with poison. More... |
| Why did Snyder's prairie dog park turn into a ghost town? By Ronald W. Erdrich - Reporter-News - 05/29/2012 It's been rough year for Larry Thompson. "I was a probation officer for 18 years, I have pretty big shoulders," he said and laughed. "But man this is getting to be tiring." Thompson is the Parks Manager for Scurry County and as such is responsible for Towle Memorial Park, the largest park in the city, and home to a prairie dog town similar to the one in Abilene's Redbud Park. More... |
| In Utah, a Town Digs Deep to Battle Prairie Dogs By Jim Carlton - The Wall Street Journal - 05/06/2012 There are about 2,790 humans to defend their turf in this farming town. They are up against a foe with superior numbers: 3,435 Utah prairie dogs, give or take a few pups. And the critters have the law on their side. Prairie dogs—simply "dogs" among locals—have invaded yards and lots, pockmarking lawns and gardens all around town. They have tunneled into a cemetery in a nearby town. Another indignity: The dogs' disregard for the small Parowan Airport, where they have dug tunnels under the runway, buckling it. More... |
| Gas development pushing pronghorn out of vital wintering grounds By Jeremy Hance - mongabay.com - 05/02/2012 Development of natural gas fields in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is pushing pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) out of crucial wintering grounds, a situation that could result in a population decline according to a new study in Biological Conservation. By tracking 125 female pronghorn over five years in Wyoming, researchers found that highest quality habitat had fallen by over 80 percent in two vast gas fields on land owned by the government's Bureau of Land Management (BLM). More... |
| Small burrowing owls attract big fascination By Judie Farnsworth - Victoria Advocate - 04/15/2012 Owl - the word invokes mental images of large bodied birds gazing aloofly from high overhead. Hisses, shrieks and hoots that echo through the night produce a feeling of "Wow." But then there are burrowing owls. Their plaintive "who whoooo," produces a reaction more like, "Awww." More... |
| Endangered black-footed ferret added to collection at Nature Center By Roger Steinbrock - City of Lawrence - 04/13/2012 Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department’s Prairie Park Nature Center has received a black-footed ferret for display. The ferret was received last weekend from the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in Wellington, Colo. The ferret, named Harlem, is approximately 6 years-old. It will be off display for two weeks while it gets acclimated to its new surroundings. Its official debut will be during a program on Earth Day. The female ferret had been used to breed black-footed ferrets for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s reintroduction program. Five of its seven offspring have been reintroduced into the wild, while two of its female offspring have been part of the breeding program. There are less than 1000 black-footed ferrets in the wild today. More... |
| Crews "dust" prairie dog towns to help endangered ferrets By Kevin Woster - Rapid City Journal - 04/04/2012 Racing their ATVs through a prairie-dog town on federal grasslands north of Badlands National Park, members of Matt Kelly’s crew lurch to brief stops at each burrow and fire blasts of white powder into the holes. Precision is important. The insecticide being fired from the end of well-aimed wands by Kelly and his crew from Gopher Chokers pest control of Scenic is helping to save an endangered species. More... |
| Prairie dog transplant questioned By The Associated Press - The Ranger - 04/03/2012 Some Campbell County residents say they are concerned about plans by the U.S. Forest Service to transplant prairie dogs from one part of the Thunder Basin National Grassland to another in northeast Wyoming. U.S. Forest Service officials propose to move prairie dogs from Weston and Converse counties, saying that the animals carry plague. They said they want to move the rodents to reduce the possibility of transmitting the disease. More... |
| Poisoned Prairie By Laura Paskus - Santa Fe Reporter - 03/28/2012 In a shaky, hand-shot video from 2010, NimishVyas of the United States Geological Survey pans across a field in Vernon, Colo. Vyas focuses on a dirt mound and then zooms in on a pale spot atop the dry, tawny grass. The spot twitches, and he zooms closer. A black-tailed prairie dog lies on its side. Its belly is heaving, and its front and back legs twitch—a motion that at first appears similar to what a dog does while dreaming, only the twitching continues in a spasmodic, almost syncopated, manner. This prairie dog isn’t dozing. It’s dying. More... |
| Prairie dogs not welcome in Greeley, county By Analisa Romano - Greeley Tribune - 03/23/2012 It’s that time of year again — as the birds begin to chirp and the sun shines just a bit warmer, prairie dogs are poking their little heads out of their burrows, staking claims to grassland across the Western Slope and preparing to expand their rodent towns. Brett Boddicker, owner of Windsor-based Rocky Mountain Wildlife Services, said he’s swamped this time of year with calls to remove the rodents, which are deemed by many Colorado communities as a nuisance and a threat to public safety. In Greeley, city ordinance requires that land owners keep their property free of prairie dog infestations — defined as more than one prairie dog burrow or nest per 900 square feet. More... |
| Portraits of life: A photographer's mission By Erin Andersen - Lincoln Journal Star - 03/17/2012 Of the world's 1.25 million animal species, half will be extinct by the turn of the century. Species that include the awe-inspiring giant panda, polar bear and woodland caribou, but also less endearing creatures like the Wyoming toad, Dehli Sands flower-loving fly and the American burying beetle. More... |
| Prairie dog bill passes By Paul Hammel - World-Herald Bureau - 03/08/2012 Despite a last-minute effort to derail the bill, state lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a measure that would allow counties to kill or otherwise manage prairie dogs that become nuisances. World-Herald News Service Prairie Dog Legislative Bill 473 would allow counties to control prairie dogs like noxious weeds. If a landowner complains or a problem is spotted, a county could force a landowner to poison prairie dogs on their property or control them through other means, so the animals don't impact neighboring ranches. More... |
| Fort Collins prairie dogs may be gassed to make way for apartment complex By Jason Pohl - The Rocky Mountain Collegian - 03/01/2012 Animal rights groups and concerned residents are lashing out against the potential gassing and extermination of prairie dogs to make way for a new student housing development in one north Fort Collins community. Aspen Heights –– a national chain providing student housing and family residences –– is behind the 200-unit-project that will house nearly 700 students. But part of the nearly 30-acre site is home to a colony of hundreds of prairie dogs, raising questions –– and tempers –– with nearby residents since it was first discussed at a community forum in December. More... |
| Last-ditch effort to stop prairie-dog bill
By Paul Hammel - World-Herald Bureau - 02/29/2012 On her grassy acreage west of Kearney, Neb., Alice Heckman can gaze out on a colony of chirping critters that fascinated Lewis and Clark and prompt cuss words from many Nebraska ranchers. During her youth, she recalls, prairie dog towns stretched four miles up a draw in the Platte River bluffs. Now maybe three dozen of the burrowing rodents inhabit Heckman's 12-acre property. They are the last remnant of a giant colony reduced by plowing, poisons and recreational shooting.More... |
| Pilot to Donate a Flight from Wyoming to Wisconsin
Transporting Endangered Black-footed Ferrets to New Home
The NEW Zoo of Brown County - 02/23/2012 On February 21, 2012, Michael Baum, a LightHawk volunteer pilot from Los Altos, CA will donate a flight in his TBM 700 single engine turboprop to transport two endangered black-footed ferrets, Roger and Ari to a new home. No word on what in-flight snacks will be offered. The ferrets will travel by land 22 miles from the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Carr, CO to Cheyenne Regional Airport, WY. From Cheyenne, they will board Baum’s aircraft bound for Austin Straubel Int’l Airport in Green Bay, WI and their new home at the North Eastern Wisconsin (NEW) Zoo. During the flight, Roger and Ari will be resting comfortably in their own medium sized dog crates. More... |
| Frederick readies to push out prairie dogs By Scott Rochat - Longmont Times-Call - 02/23/2012 It's time for the prairie dogs to go. Frederick plans to kill off its two largest prairie dog colonies starting March 5, at a cost of up to $20,000. And before then -- the date hasn't yet been set -- town officials will meet with the neighbors of the to-be-treated land, to see if they also want to hire the same exterminator at the same rates -- $2.60 per burrow in most areas, or $7.50 each for burrows near a home or building, where the company can't use aluminum phosphate.More... |
| Prairie Wildlife Research employee also coaches two basketball teams By Padraic Duffy - Rapid City Journal - 02/18/2012 Wall basketball coach John Hess hasn’t had too much time to himself this winter. In fact, he hasn’t had too much time outside of the gym at all. Hess is in his first season of coaching both the boys and girls teams this year, and he laughs when he’s asked about the arrangement. More... |
| Hot Springs photographer smiling over black-footed ferret find By Kevin Woster - Rapid City Journal - 02/15/2012 Lon Sharp, nature and wildlife photographer talks about the endangered Black Footed Ferret. Sharp has been tracking and photographing the ferret near Wind Cave National Park. As bucket-list items go, Lon Sharp's black-footed-ferret wish was unusually ambitious. He wanted to see one of the secretive, nocturnal ferrets, considered to be the most endangered land mammal in North America, in the wild.More... |
| Legislature kills prairie dog bill By David Montgomery - Rapid City Journal - 02/02/2012 A group of riled-up ranchers, who were hoping the Legislature would let them sue the state over prairie dogs, went home disappointed Wednesday. Ranchers like Charles Kruse of Interior and Gary Williams of Wall said they have suffered property damage, lost income and extra expenses by prairie dog incursions on their property - incursions they say the state is legally bound to control. More... |
| Prairie dog bill advances By Kevin O'Hanlon - Lincoln Journal Star - 01/25/2012 Nebraska lawmakers gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill designed to limit the spread of the state's 1.4 million black-tailed prairie dogs -- stout ground squirrels that can weigh up to three pounds. Once a candidate for federal Endangered Species status, there are now 24 million black-tailed prairie dogs in the United States. Farmers and ranchers consider the prairie dog a pest, saying it destroys pastures and fields by digging holes and tunneling. More... |
| EPA Seeks Input On Steps To Protect Endangered Wildlife From Prairie Dog Bait ENews Park Forest - 01/23/2012 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking comments on draft Reasonable and Prudent Measures (RPMs) included in a draft Biological Opinion received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on January 17, 2012. This draft Biological Opinion addresses the potential effects from Rozol Prairie Dog Bait on wildlife listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. EPA initially issued a final cancellation order back last August for Rozol Prairie Dog Bait, following a court order issued on July 27, 2011 that found EPA had failed to consult with FWS.More... |
| New program will help Utah prairie dogs, land owners By Mark Havnes - The Salt Lake Tribune - 01/09/2012 The newest strategy for saving the threatened Utah prairie dog was unveiled Monday in Cedar City, but some property owners say they’re still getting a raw deal. Officials hope the new Utah Prairie Dog Habitat Credit Exchange and Safe Harbor program, together with other ongoing efforts, will help preserve the animals while making life easier for land owners. More... |
| Black-Footed Ferret on 2011 Canadian $3 By Dennis G. Rainey - World Coin News - 12/21/2011 According to some, the most endangered native mammal in North America is the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). This species is not to be confused with the domestic ferret (M. putoriusfuro), which is a domesticated subspecies of the European polecat and is popular with many as a pet. The Steppe Polecat (M. eversmanii), a close relative of the black-footed ferret, is sometimes also called a ferret. Other mammals in the genus Mustela are several kinds of weasels, the ermine and mink (two species). More... |
| 30th anniversary: Black-footed ferrets step back from extinction By Lou Hanebury - Billings Gazette - 12/08/2011 Thirty years ago, in 1981, many things that we take for granted today were just being introduced. The first personal computer was launched, sticky notes were invented, and MTV hit the airwaves. More... |
| Black-tailed prairie dog threatened in Sask. CBC News - 12/02/2011 Even though some may see them as a nuisance, scientists are expressing concern about the fate of the black-tailed prairie dog. The animal was initially as 'special concern' on Canada's endangered species list, but after a recent review it has been changed to 'threatened.' More... |
| Hey, Watch It! Wisconsin native hopes to ferret out interest in his nature documentary By Rob Thomas - 77 Square - 11/15/2011 Hey, I knew some things about black-footed ferrets before watching Travis Livieri's documentary "Return of the Prairie Bandit." Like, for example . . . what color their feet were. Okay, my knowledge topped out right about there. More... |
| DWR releases black-footed ferrets in Uintah County By Geoff Liesik - Deseret News - 11/12/2011 The noise began almost as soon as the tailgate dropped on the pickup truck from Colorado. It was a nonstop, high-pitch chattering interspersed at times with prolonged hisses from inside the pet carriers stacked in the covered bed of the truck. More... |
| Celebration wows students By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 11/08/2011 Military precision -- at least as far as is humanly possible when grade school students are involved -- was the order of the day Monday at Sternberg Museum of Natural History. That's because 1,149 students passed through the hallowed halls of the museum to celebrate what had been billed as the 30th anniversary of the rediscovery of the endangered black-footed ferret. More... |
| Celebration attracts small crowd By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 11/07/2011 If it hadn't been for the "ferret" sign adjacent to U.S. Highway 40, Saturday's setting at the Tim and Rebekah Peterson farm could have been mistaken for any other high school science fair, sprinkled with a bit of entertainment. There certainly was plenty of free pizza for the 65 or so people attending. More... |
| Ferret count drops at reintroduction sites By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 11/02/2011 After crossing out all the duplicate sightings, the count for black-footed ferrets in Logan County was down this fall. Searchers spent eight nights in the field recently at the Haverfield-Barnhardt complex south of Russell Springs and at the Nature Conservancy's Smoky Valley Ranch, only to find a total of 38 animals, according to Dan Mulhern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in charge of the reintroduction program. More... |
| Ferrets wild and free By Mike Drew - Calgary Sun - 10/22/2011 The ferret just didn’t want to come out. It had come all the way from Colorado to its new home here in Grasslands National Park in a comfy pet carrier case and now, as dusk settled into dark, it just didn’t feel like making the foot and a half walk from the carrier to the prairie dog burrow right in front of it. More... |
| Grasslands ecosystem benefits from third release of black footed ferrets SWBooster - 10/19/2011 On Oct. 18, Parks Canada, with participation of over 60 schoolchildren and representatives from the Calgary and the Toronto Zoos, reintroduced 15 more black-footed ferrets back to their prairie home at Grasslands National Park. Only two years ago, the approved recovery strategy announced at the Toronto Zoo gave the support for the first group of 34 ferrets to journey up from Colorado, United States, for reintroduction to the Canadian prairies. More... |
| Black-footed ferret documentary premiered at local ferret show By Susan NC Price - Chicago Pets Examiner - 10/10/2011 Visitors and exhibitors at the Greatest Ferret Show on Earth (GFSOE) in Villa Park this past Saturday, October 8, 2011, learned that BFF means something quite different to wildlife biologists than to young women. When researchers speak of BFFs, they mean not best friends forever but black-footed ferrets. More... |
| The Cautious Celebration of the Black-footed Ferret's Recovery By Benjamin Donatelle - Bozeman Magpie - 10/06/2011 It’s 11:30 at night and we’re racing down a dirt road through the dark South Dakota plains. The dust kicked up leaves a 1/4-mile cloud behind us while the Milky Way sparkles above a moonless night. More... |
| Black-footed ferrets still struggle to gain foothold in Montana By Brett French - Billings Gazette - 10/04/2011 Randy Matchett calls it his chart from hell. Rising and falling like heartbeats recorded on an electrocardiogram, the lines show the surge and decline in black-footed ferret kit reproduction in the past 17 years in the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Montana. More... |
| Wyoming outdoors: Black-footed ferret recovery is conservation success story By Bob Krumm - Billings Gazette - 09/29/2011 In case you missed it, there was a three-day celebration in Meeteetse over the weekend that marked the 30th anniversary of the discovery of black-footed ferrets on the Hogg Ranch. Thirty years ago. John Hogg's dog, Shep, left a slinky critter next to his bowl. More... |
| Ferret celebration meets opposition By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 09/28/2011 Anti-prairie dog forces have convinced Logan County and Oakley school district to withdraw permission for "celebratory" activities to herald the 30-year anniversary of the rediscovery of the endangered black-footed ferret. The Oakley school district withdrew its permission for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct two assemblies that had been scheduled next week. More... |
| The black-footed ferret: Flagship species for the prairie ecosystem By Gary Raham - North Forty News - 09/15/2011 If Helen of Troy’s beauty once “launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hopes that the charm of the black-footed ferret’s whiskered nose and masked eyes will help resurrect the fallen fortunes of short grass prairie habitat. This ferret truly is a charmed species, as this year marks the 30th Anniversary of its recovery from apparent extinction — a recovery that teetered on the brink of failure more than once. More... |
| Journal’s Focus on Black-Footed Ferret Marks 30 Years of Repopulation Efforts Newswise - 08/17/2011 The black-footed ferret disappeared from the wild in the late 1980s. As predicted in 1929 in the pages of the Journal of Mammalogy, human persecution of prairie dogs, the principal prey of ferrets, took its toll on this species. More... |
| Logan County demands ferret talks resume By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 07/11/2011 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been issued an ultimatum by the Logan County Commission: Resume communications over the agency's black-footed ferret reintroduction program or else. Failure to do so, according to a 3 1/2-page letter, will force the commissioners to pursue other legal venues, including contacting the Justice Department, the Interior Department's inspector general and the head of Intergovernmental Affairs. More... |
| Black-footed ferrets found in Wyoming aid in species' recovery By Martin Kidston - The Billings Gazette - 06/18/2011 A discovery made 30 years ago by a ranch dog is being lauded as the find that saved the black-footed ferret, a shy animal once viewed as one of the rarest mammals on earth. Working off the dog’s tip back in 1981, biologists discovered a small population of ferrets living near Meeteetse. More... |
| As the elephants pack their trunks, Toronto Zoo needs rebranding By Brett Popplewell - Toronto Zoo - 05/13/2011 The black-footed ferret may not be the top attraction at the Toronto Zoo, but the zoo's success at reintroducing the endangered species to the prairies deserves more recognition. More... |
| Rich County dumps ferret-reintroduction plan By Brandon Loomis - The Salt Lake Tribune - 05/05/2011 Rich County commissioners have opted not to allow reintroduction of the endangered black-footed ferret into a prairie dog colony on private land in northern Utah, according to the County Clerk’s Office. More... |
| Ferret outlook remains positive By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 04/01/2011 A two-week foray into the realm of black-footed ferrets -- even in less than ideal weather conditions -- has brought with it high hopes for the upcoming breeding season. "The boys were up frantically looking for women," said Dan Mulhern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in charge of the Logan County ferret reintroduction program. More... |
| Ferret found in new prairie dog town By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 04/1/2011 An errant black-footed ferret has been found more than 4 miles away from the largest of the two reintroduction sites in Logan County. The wayward animal was found on land owned by Calvin and Jay Haverfield, the two sons of Larry and Bette Haverfield, where most of the reintroduced black-footed ferrets have been released and where the largest population of the animals exists in Kansas. More... |
| Disappearing Prairie Dogs (part 1 of a 2-part blog) By Travis Livieri - Small Animal Channel - 04/01/2011 I’m sitting in the same exact spot that Dean was in February, among the yucca plants. A good prairie dog count today will go a long ways toward verifying the hibernation theory. In the early morning, silent prairie, my stomach growls. Am I nervous about the count or is it a lack of breakfast? I’m sure it’s a little bit of both. More... |
| The amazing return of the black footed ferret By Larry Lyons - Niles Daily Star - 02/15/2011 By definition it would seem impossible to bring an animal back from extinction. After all, extinct means gone, “gone like yesterday” as the Montgomery Gentry song puts it. However, in a way, that unlikely feat has been accomplished with the black footed ferret, one of the world’s rarest animals. More... |
| There's no time to think of ferrets' future at Fort Carson By R. Scott Rappold - Colorado Springs Gazette - 02/12/2011 Talking isn’t allowed in the Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center. The forced quiet is meant to keep the animals calm. And the few people allowed into this closed area of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo must wear surgical masks and sterile booties instead of shoes, safeguards to prevent the spread of disease to one of the most endangered mammals in the world. More... |
| Documentary Follows The Return Of The Endangered Black-Footed Ferret To Canada’s Prairie
By Marylou Zarbock - Small Animal Channel - 02/07/2011 Who can resist the story of an animal coming back from extinction? That’s the miracle that filmmaker Kenton Vaughan relates in the documentary Return Of The Prairie Bandit. More... |
| Battling Back From ‘Extinction’ By Matt Miller - The Nature Conservancy - 01/18/2011 As a kid, I recall reading a story about the extinction of the black-footed ferret: gone forever. Even at a young age, I was a dedicated enthusiast of strange and unusual animals. I still remember the deep regret I felt that I would never see this cool-looking animal hunting prairie dogs on the Great Plains. More... |
| Into the wild again By Rod Haxton - Scott Country Record - 12/11/2010 Angry neighbors and county commissioners waging their battle on Logan County turf and within the courts has drawn most of the headlines in the ongoing Logan County prairie dog war. However, this isn’t the only story taking place. In fact, one could easily argue it’s not the biggest story. What sometimes gets overlooked amidst the controversy is a wildlife success program that is preventing the extinction of an animal species. More... |
| Ferrets added to growing Logan population The Hays Daily News - 12/09/2010 Black-footed ferrets are doing well in Logan County. That's why the latest reintroduction of 25 captive-raised black-footed ferrets on the 10,000-acre ranch in southwest Logan County could be the last -- at least for a while. More... |
| New black-footed ferret breeding center dedicated at the Phoenix Zoo By Gretchen Mominee - www.examiner.com - 11/19/2010 The dedication of the recently completed black-footed ferret breeding center on Thursday, November 18, 2010 at the Phoenix Zoo represents the commitment to conservation and tireless efforts of many community partners. Phoenix Zoo President and CEO Bert Castro noted that, although the zoo had to temporarily decommission its ferret breeding efforts in 2008 when the orangutan exhibit encroached on the original building, he was happy to see the old building demolished in December 2009. More... |
| Biologist Travis Livieri Dreams Big For Black-Footed Ferrets By Marylou Zarbock - www.smallanimalchannel.com - 11/11/2010 “It’s one of those years when I’ve had a tough time putting my finger on what’s going on in Conata Basin [South Dakota]. That aspect is very frustrating,” said biologist Travis Livieri. He’s talking about the population of wild black-footed ferrets in the area. More... |
| More Black-Footed Ferrets Call Wind Cave National Park Home By Kurt Repanshek - National Parks Traveler - 11/08/2010 Another dozen black-footed ferrets now call Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota home, the result of plague preventing their release elsewhere in the West. Park officials say the ferrets -- seven males and five females -- were bred in captivity at the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in northern Colorado. More... |
| Taste-Test Raises Money For Ferrets By Marylou Zarbock - www.smallanimalchannel.com - 10/22/2010 Ferret owner Linda Iroff to taste-test ferret food to raise money for black-footed ferrets and benefit a local ferret shelter. A recent discussion on the Ferret Mailing List that might have ended in a major argument instead became a major fundraising opportunity. More... |
| Judge grants motion, keeps limits on poisoning By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 09/21/2010 Senior Judge Jack Lively has denied Logan County's bid to exterminate prairie dogs on the 10,000-acre ranch that is now home to dozens of endangered black-footed ferrets. In a seven-page ruling issued Monday, Lively -- a retired Coffeyville judge assigned to hear the Logan County case -- turned aside a bid from Logan County commissioners to force the poisoning of prairie dogs on land owned by Larry and Bette Haverfield and Gordon Barnhardt. More... |
| Prairie Dog’s Best Friend By Rod Haxton - The Scott County Record - 09/02/2010 Forget everything you know, or think you know, about prairie dogs. Opponents of prairie dogs - and that would seemingly include most everyone who farms or ranches on the High Plains - loathe the critters for their ability to lay waste to hundreds or thousands of acres of productive ranch land. More... |
| The legend of the black-footed ferret By Jeffrey Wolf and Kevin Torres - 9News.com - 08/19/2010 When a prison escapee was picked up in the tiny Wyoming town of Meeteetse last week, many of us at 9NEWS said: Mee-what? Up until then, many of us had no clue the town existed. More... |
| Black-footed ferrets breeding in Saskatchewan CBC News - 08/04/2010 Wildlife officials are gushing with pride after spotting a litter of newborn black-footed ferrets in Saskatchewan's Grasslands National Park, a few months after the creature was reintroduced to the area. "In the early hours of July 14, a playful litter of kits was observed," Parks Canada announced Wednesday. More... |
| Zoo record broken for ferret births The Washington Post - 08/04/2010 The black-footed ferret was once thought to be extinct. But the National Zoo's Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal is doing its part in helping to boost the population. More... |
| New Life for Vanishing Species By Susan Logue Koster - Voice of America - 07/19/2010 For more than a century, the National Zoo in Washington has attracted visitors wanting to learn more about animals. Some 2,000 animals are currently in the collection, ranging from ants to elephants. More... |
| Circumstances Force National Park Service to Actively Manage Wildlife By Kurt Repanshek - National Parks Traveler - 06/10/2010 Florida panther kittens at Big Cypress National Preserve dosed with dewormers. Black-footed ferrets at Badlands National Park inoculated against plague. More... |
| Wyoming ferret reintroduction efforts hit snag
By Jeremy Pelzer - Casper Star-Tribune - 05/22/2010 Even though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected a petition by conservation groups last week to give the black-footed ferret more federal protection, state wildlife workers say the threat alone harms future reintroduction efforts in Wyoming. The petition, filed last fall by the groups WildEarth Guardians, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and Center for Native Ecosystems, sought to give full federal endangered species protection to black-footed ferrets on public lands. More... |
| Ferrets' status remains unchanged
By Jeremy Pelzer - Casper Star Tribune - 05/18/2010 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that it has denied a petition by environmental groups to give the black-footed ferret more protection as an endangered species. It's unclear whether the ruling will resurrect efforts by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to reintroduce the animal, among the rarest in North America, on private land in southern Albany County. More... |
| March madness record numbers: Black-footed ferrets in the spotlight near the Grand Canyon By Stacey Wittig - Grand Canyon Hiking Examiner - 04/10/2010 The elusive varmits may not hold the same fascination as does college basketball, but to those working toward the recovery of black-footed ferrets, the records established in March hold more meaning. “It’s exciting news,” said Jeff Corcoran, supervisor for the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Black-footed Ferret Recovery Effort in Seligman, AZ located 58 miles south of the Grand Canyon. More... |
| Plague Poses Widespread Risk to North American Wildlife Environment News Service - 03/01/2010 Sylvatic plague - a close cousin of the dreaded disease that killed one-third of all European residents in the six years between 1347 and 1353 - persists in rodents in the American West even when the disease does not erupt into epidemic form, new research demonstrates. The newly published work indicates that plague continues to affect the black-footed ferret, one of the most critically endangered mammals in North America, as well as several species of prairie dogs, including the federally threatened Utah prairie dog. More... |
| Snow-tracking leads to promising ferret count By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 01/29/2010 Bounding from one hole to another, the black-footed ferret's tracks are distinctive -- when conditions are just right to see them. "We found about 20 ferrets on half of our ranch," said Larry Haverfield, whose 10,000-acre ranch has been at the heart of controversy over prairie dogs and the reintroduction of ferrets, among the most endangered mammals in the United States. More... |
| Toronto Zoo's Black-footed Ferret Release Enters Phase Two By Kathy Jury - zandavisitor.com - 12/24/2009 History was made on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 when 34 black-footed ferrets were released in Canada’s Grasslands National Park near Val Marie, Saskatchewan, after an absence of nearly 70 years. The release of the ferrets, many of whom were born at the Toronto Zoo, was an international conservation dream come true: species on the brink of extinction can be saved. However, the hard work is just beginning as the exacting process of monitoring the released animals gets underway. More... |
| Colorado Companies Team Up With U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to Protect Black-Footed Ferret PR Newswire - 11/05/2009 The endangered black-footed ferrets inhabit prairie dog towns in the western U.S. This rare carnivore feeds on prairie dogs. The prairie dogs are very susceptible to plague and often entire population die-offs in towns occur. More... |
| Endangered ferrets surviving plague By Chet Brokaw - The Associated Press - 10/26/2009 One of the nation's largest colonies of endangered black-footed ferrets is surviving despite the disease that has hit their home in a vast stretch of prairie dog towns south of Badlands National Park, according to federal wildlife officials. More... |
| Hunt for black-footed ferrets on plains ends By Chris Woodka - The Pueblo Chieftain - 09/09/2009 The last black-footed ferret known to live in the wild in Colorado died more than 50 years ago. More... |
| Plague vaccine for prairie dogs could save endangered ferret By Hadley Leggett - Wired.com - 08/04/2009 Wild prairie dogs may soon get a dose of something extra in their daily diet: an oral vaccine against the plague. More... |
| Kansas Ferrets Key to Species Survival By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 09/05/2008 The sylvatic plague epidemic under way in the Conata Basin of South Dakota has killed off thousands of prairie dogs and an untold number of highly endangered black-footed ferrets. More... |
| Efforts on 2 Fronts to Save a Population of Ferrets By Jim Robbins - The New York Times - 07/15/2008 A colony that contains nearly half of the black-footed ferrets in the country and which biologists say is critical to the long-term health of the species has been struck by plague, which may have killed a third of the 300 animals. More... |
| Ferrets Make It Through Kansas Winter By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 04/02/2008 Almost certain not to catch on as a new trend, it was the foray of choice for Travis Livieri, taking not to the road, but to the fields instead. More... |
| Move Over, ‘Meerkat Manor’ By Paul Tolme - Newsweek - 01/15/2008 When I traveled to South Dakota in 2005 to write a story about black-footed ferrets, I never imagined my words about the little weasels would one day appear in a trashy romance novel. More... |
| Endangered By Dan O'Brien - Wild Idea Buffalo Company Blog - 01/06/2008 It is not simply rareness that attracts us to endangered wildlife. More... |
| Endangered Ferrets Face Plague Threat By Hope Hamashige - National Geographic News - 04/21/2006 Spring has arrived on the South Dakota prairie, and with it comes a new worry for endangered black-footed ferrets: the return of the plague. More... |
| “Return of the Prairie Bandit” honored with 2012 Conservation Education Award Wildlife.org - 10/15/2012 The award recognized Kenton Vaughan (Director), Mark Caswell (Cinematographer), Margus Jukkum (Sound Recordist) and Travis Livieri of Prairie Wildlife Research. More... |
| Save the Ferret: Wildlife Experts Re-Train Endangered Black-Footed Ferrets to Survive in the Wild By CLAYTON SANDELL - ABC News - 07/07/2012 It's well after midnight on the South Dakota prairie and biologist Travis Livieri is on the hunt. "These can be extremely elusive creatures," Livieri said. "Sometimes it's kind of like searching for a needle in a haystack." Livieri shines a million-candlepower spotlight mounted on top of his pickup truck into the darkness, sweeping the beam of light left and right. Then suddenly, about 100 yards away, the reflection of shiny green eyes gives away one of the most endangered animals in the world. More... |
| Prairie Wildlife Research employee also coaches two basketball teams By Padraic Duffy - Rapid City Journal - 02/18/2012 Wall basketball coach John Hess hasn’t had too much time to himself this winter. In fact, he hasn’t had too much time outside of the gym at all. Hess is in his first season of coaching both the boys and girls teams this year, and he laughs when he’s asked about the arrangement. More... |
| Hey, Watch It! Wisconsin native hopes to ferret out interest in his nature documentary By Rob Thomas - 77 Square - 11/15/2011 Hey, I knew some things about black-footed ferrets before watching Travis Livieri's documentary "Return of the Prairie Bandit." Like, for example . . . what color their feet were. Okay, my knowledge topped out right about there. More... |
| Documentary Follows The Return Of The Endangered Black-Footed Ferret To Canada’s Prairie
By Marylou Zarbock - Small Animal Channel - 02/07/2011 Who can resist the story of an animal coming back from extinction? That’s the miracle that filmmaker Kenton Vaughan relates in the documentary Return Of The Prairie Bandit. More... |
| Yorkton filmmaker's documentary monitors reintroduction of endangered black-footed ferret into the wild By Taylor Shire - Leader-Post - 02/04/2011 Getting the chance to come back to the Prairies to work was always a goal for filmmaker Kenton Vaughan. Originally from Yorkton, Vaughan has been a documentary filmmaker for 10 years. His latest film, Return of the Prairie Bandit, will be aired on CBC TV's The Nature of Things on Thursday at 8 p.m. More... |
| Banishing Plague from the Prairie
By Sharon Oosthoek - Defenders of Wildlife Magazine - Winter 2011 Behind the brick walls of the National Wildlife Health Center, past security doors leading to an isolation room, black-tailed prairie dogs dine on peanut-butter-flavored pellets. These tan-colored rodents with black-tipped tails were captured near Wall, South Dakota, and now live in burrows of stainless steel boxes connected by plastic pipes. More... |
| Ferrets added to growing Logan population The Hays Daily News - 12/09/2010 Black-footed ferrets are doing well in Logan County. That's why the latest reintroduction of 25 captive-raised black-footed ferrets on the 10,000-acre ranch in southwest Logan County could be the last -- at least for a while. More... |
| Biologist Travis Livieri Dreams Big For Black-Footed Ferrets By Marylou Zarbock - www.smallanimalchannel.com - 11/11/2010 “It’s one of those years when I’ve had a tough time putting my finger on what’s going on in Conata Basin [South Dakota]. That aspect is very frustrating,” said biologist Travis Livieri. He’s talking about the population of wild black-footed ferrets in the area. More... |
| Endangered ferrets surviving plague By Chet Brokaw - The Associated Press - 10/26/2009 One of the nation's largest colonies of endangered black-footed ferrets is surviving despite the disease that has hit their home in a vast stretch of prairie dog towns south of Badlands National Park, according to federal wildlife officials. More... |
| Kansas Ferrets Key to Species Survival By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 09/05/2008 The sylvatic plague epidemic under way in the Conata Basin of South Dakota has killed off thousands of prairie dogs and an untold number of highly endangered black-footed ferrets. More... |
| Efforts on 2 Fronts to Save a Population of Ferrets By Jim Robbins - The New York Times - 07/15/2008 A colony that contains nearly half of the black-footed ferrets in the country and which biologists say is critical to the long-term health of the species has been struck by plague, which may have killed a third of the 300 animals. More... |
| Ferrets Make It Through Kansas Winter By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 04/02/2008 Almost certain not to catch on as a new trend, it was the foray of choice for Travis Livieri, taking not to the road, but to the fields instead. More... |
| Move Over, ‘Meerkat Manor’ By Paul Tolme - Newsweek - 01/15/2008 When I traveled to South Dakota in 2005 to write a story about black-footed ferrets, I never imagined my words about the little weasels would one day appear in a trashy romance novel. More... |
| Endangered Ferrets Face Plague Threat By Hope Hamashige - National Geographic News - 04/21/2006 Spring has arrived on the South Dakota prairie, and with it comes a new worry for endangered black-footed ferrets: the return of the plague. More... |