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Journal’s focus on black-footed ferret marks 30 years of repopulation efforts |
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| 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... |
| 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... |
| Black-footed ferret's revival celebrated By Associated Press - Argus Leader- 09/26/2011 As the cage door opened, black-footed ferret No. 7505 tentatively peeked his head out, looked hesitantly at the prairie dog burrow offered before him and then rushed inside, disappearing under the soil of western South Dakota’s Badlands. His freedom had been months in the making, but in less than a minute – and three decades after his species was thought to be extinct – he was gone, unleashed into the wild to do what the endangered ferret does best: attack and kill prairie dogs. 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... |
| New Black-Footed Ferrets Get Names By Travis Livieri - 06/29/2011 We are very excited to announce the winning names to our “Name the new Black Footed Ferrets” contest. Many cute, creative and heartfelt names were submitted. It was wonderful seeing them all. 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... |
| 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... |
| 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... |
| 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... |
| 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... |
| Back From The Edge By Mike Drew - Calgary Sun - 09/19/2010 The moon was hanging cheddar yellow over a ridge to the south and DEET-filled sweat was burning its way down my forehead and into my eyes. Ahead of me, Calgary Zoo researchers Tara Stephens and Christina Norris were striding along, Christina swinging a powerful spotlight back and forth, Tara following along with a GPS unit in hand. Midnight had come and gone. . 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... |
| Wind Cave Begins Night Hikes In Search of Ferrets nps.gov - 07/01/2010 Rangers at Wind Cave National Park will be offering special night hikes this summer in hope of seeing a black-footed ferret, the rarest animal in North America. Starting July 10, these special ranger programs will begin at the Elk Mountain Campground at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays. 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... |
| Black-footed ferret reintroduced to Saskatchewan prairies By Anne Kyle - Canada.com - 10/01/2009 More than 70 years after vanishing from the Canadian Prairies, the black-footed ferret is once again scampering in the wild at Saskatchewan's Grasslands National Park. 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... |
| Hanging in the Balance By Travis Livieri - Ferrets USA Magazine - 2007 No moon appeared in the sky on the cool night of September 26, 1981. 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... |
| Out West with the Black-Footed Ferret By Bob Church - Ferrets Magazine - January/February 2006 Travis Livieri knows a good animal when he sees one. More... |
| Life on the Brink By Travis Livieri - Ferrets USA Magazine - 2005 On a moonlit October night, wildlife biologist Randy Matchett maneuvers his pickup truck along a dirt trail in a remote area of north-central Montana. 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... |
| Hanging in the Balance By Travis Livieri - Ferrets USA Magazine - 2007 No moon appeared in the sky on the cool night of September 26, 1981. 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... |
| Out West with the Black-Footed Ferret By Bob Church - Ferrets Magazine - January/February 2006 Travis Livieri knows a good animal when he sees one. More... |
| Prairie Dogs Poisoned by U.S. in South Dakota By Maryann Mott - National Geographic News - 10/26/2005 A controversial prairie dog poisoning program has begun on the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands in southwestern South Dakota. More... |
| Toughing It Out in the Badlands By Paul Tolme - Defenders Magazine - Summer 2005 With one hand on the steering wheel and the other controlling a spotlight on the roof of his pickup, biologist Travis Livieri drives through a bumpy, windswept stretch of South Dakota prairie. More... |
| Life on the Brink By Travis Livieri - Ferrets USA Magazine - 2005 On a moonlit October night, wildlife biologist Randy Matchett maneuvers his pickup truck along a dirt trail in a remote area of north-central Montana. 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... |
| South Dakota court asked to reinstate prairie dog lawsuit By Associated Press - Rapid City Journal - 10/03/2011 Dozens of ranchers asked the South Dakota Supreme Court on Monday to reinstate their lawsuit seeking state compensation for damage from prairie dogs. Ranchers in an area near Badlands National Park claim they lost money when prairie dogs spread from the public land to their property, destroying wheat fields and pastures. More... |
| EPA cancels Rozol prairie dog bait Hot Springs Star - 08/15/2011 As of August 8, 2011, Rozol Prairie Dog Bait (EPA Reg. No 7173-286) cannot be sold or used in South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and New Mexico. Unopened containers must be returned to dealers or distributors for return to Liphatech, the manufacturer of Rozol Prairie Dog Bait. More... |
| Prairie dogs not felled by plague By Angela Hall - Leader-Post - 07/27/2011 This year's healthy blacktailed prairie dog population in Grasslands National Park has staff breathing a sigh of relief, with no evidence that the plague is taking a toll on the animals. The discovery last summer of one black-tailed prairie dog dead from sylvatic plague raised the spectre that the disease may have killed more prairie dogs in their underground homes. More... |
| The Humane Way to Manage Prairie Dogs By Julie Hauserman - The Humane Society of the United States - 07/21/2011 The spot that a colony of Arizona prairie dogs picked for their home was worse than bad; it was positively perilous. They were living beneath a rifle range at the Camp Navajo National Guard Training Site outside Flagstaff. More... |
| Hibernation behind prairie dog decline By Mike Corn - Hays Daily News - 07/11/2011 The unusually harsh weather conditions that sent black-tailed prairie dogs underground for what is believed to be an exceptionally rare hibernation period continues to affect the health of the animals. Population estimates over at the Smoky Valley Ranch owned by the Nature Conservancy, for example, are considered to be about half of normal. More... |
| Boulder moves on plan to relocate 500 prairie dogs from foothills park By Heath Urie- Camera Staff Writer - 05/11/2011 Boulder Wildlife Officials say they plan to forge ahead with relocating up to 500 prairie dogs from Foothills Communtiy Park to city owened open space in Gunbarrel. More... |
| Disappearing Prairie Dogs Part 2 By Travis Livieri - Small Animal Channel - 05/01/2011 I’m in western Kansas with my colleagues to figure out what happened to all the prairie dogs at the black-footed ferret reintroduction site. Everyone wants to know what happened. Is it plague or some other devastating disease? More... |
| Prairie dogs find natural home
Editorial - The Lincoln Journal Star - 01/31/2011 People who have seen prairie dog exhibits like the one at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha probably have wished that they could see what a real prairie dog town would look like out in the open range. Soon they'll have a new opportunity to do just that, thanks to the first-ever plan by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to set up a new prairie dog colony in the north-central part of the state. More... |
| Missing prairie dogs in hibernation By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 01/28/2011 It's the latest whodunit for wildlife biologists -- this time a case of prairie dogs gone missing for nearly 30 days at several key locations in Logan County. Questions abounded: Where did they go, why and is there reason for concern? More... |
| State modifies new rules on prairie dog poison By Mike Corn - The Hays Daily News - 01/14/2011 The Kansas Department of Agriculture has granted an exemption to allow a blood-thinning poison used to kill prairie dogs to be administered by mechanical feeder rather than by hand. The hand-delivery requirement located on labels of the poison Rozol were recently implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency. More... |
| Citing Species Act, Judge Spares Prairie Dogs By Joe Stumpe - The New York Times - 10/22/2010 A Kansas rancher’s long battle against the poisoning of this state’s biggest prairie dog colony is being hailed as a significant victory for wildlife conservation. Numbering about 25,000 prairie dogs in far western Kansas, the colony is a prime source of food for one of the most endangered mammals in the world, the black-footed ferret. 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... |
| From wind farms to prairie dogs, humans have impact on environment By Ryan D. Wilson - Clay Center Dispatch - 09/17/2010 Gifted instructor Elby Adamson said he does not consider himself a "rabid environmentalist," but when it comes to teaching kids about the environment, he teaches them "there are no free lunches." In other words, there are trade-offs to everything you do, he told Lion's Club members on Tuesday. More... |
| Relocating Prairie Dogs a Hard, Successful Sell in Wyoming By Shauna Stephenson - www.newwest.net - 09/15/2010 To lure the average prairie dog out of its home, one only needs a bit of horse sweet feed - a mixture of corn, oats, molasses and pellets. But to lure the smart dog, the one that dances around the trap and thumbs his nose at you, you’ve got to have the big guns: gummy worms, pork rinds and animal crackers. Prairie dogs on the Thunder Basin National Grasslands seem to have great culinary tastes when faced with transplantation. 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... |
| Prairie Dogs Have Their Day By Ruthanne Johnson - www.humanesociety.org - 07/27/2010 The stars may finally be aligning for black-tailed prairie dogs. Historically considered pests, the targets of poisoning and sport shooting, these native animals are gaining the respect of scientists and wildlife agents in federal grasslands, where colonies of prairie dogs support a myriad of species in decline: burrowing owls, ferruginous hawks, mountain plovers, swift foxes, and North America's most endangered mammal, the black-footed ferret. More... |
| Forest Service to trap, move prairie dogs in Wyoming The Associated Press - Billings Gazette - 07/13/2010 The U.S. Forest Service says it intends to trap and relocate black-tailed prairie dogs on the Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming. Relocations are scheduled to begin later this month and continue through August. More... |
| UA students clear way for new prairie dogs By Rynski - TucsonCitizen.com - 05/19/2010 A new colony of black-tailed prairie dogs set up in Las Cienegas National Conservation Area is doing so well that some college students did some housekeeping to clear the way for more. Up close with the black-tailed prairie dog/BLM photo A group of University of Arizona student volunteers spent Saturday morning clearing away downed mesquite trees to clear the grasslands in Las Cienegas, about 50 miles southeast of Tucson, according to a news release from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. More... |
| Bryce Canyon National Park Hosts its First Annual Utah Prairie Dog Day KCSG.com - 04/07/2010 Bryce Canyon National Park Acting Superintendent Jacque Lavelle invites you to join the park’s first annual Utah Prairie Dog Day celebration on Friday April 30. A year-round inhabitant of Bryce Canyon’s high plateau meadows, the Utah Prairie Dog is an important component of the park’s ecosystem. More... |
| The prairie ecosystem needs its ‘dogs’ By Tom Galusha - The Pueblo Chieftain- 04/05/2010 The tiny burrowing owl alighted atop a cone of prairie dirt, which marked a tunnel's mouth. Unable to dig its own burrow, the owl scrambled down the steeply slanted tunnel into a chamber it had claimed for itself — thanks to prairie dogs. More... |
| Longmont Airport To Start Trapping Prairie Dogs thedenverchannel.com - 02/21/2010 Vance Brand Municipal Airport in Longmont is trapping and killing dozens of prairie dogs that have threatened funding for the facility. In an operation starting Monday, trapped prairie dogs will be euthanized with carbon dioxide and donated as food for centers that care for injured raptors. More... |
| Prairie Dogs Deemed Not Endangered PR Newswire - 11/05/2009 Black-tailed prairie dogs were denied protection under the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday after federal officials concluded the once prevalent species showed signs of rebounding. Decades of poisoning, shootings, the plague and loss of habitat to agriculture are blamed for a drastic drop in prairie dog numbers since the early 1900s, from roughly one billion animals to an estimated 24 million today. 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... |
| Prairie dogs fighting plague Associated Press - 07/18/2009 Officials plan to treat prairie dog colonies where sylvatic plague has been found in Badlands National Park. More... |
| Prairie Dogs Poisoned by U.S. in South Dakota By Maryann Mott - National Geographic News - 10/26/2005 A controversial prairie dog poisoning program has begun on the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands in southwestern South Dakota. More... |
| Wilderness, Grazing Fuel Debate Over 1.1M-Acre Montana Refuge By Laura Petersen - The New York Times - 07/14/2011 The Fish and Wildlife Service has been flooded with public comments over a proposed management plan for the second-largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states, including an 8,000-acre net decrease in potential wilderness area and significant changes in how livestock are managed. More than 20,000 comments have been received on the draft comprehensive conservation plan for the 1.1-million-acre Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in north-central Montana. More... |
| From wind farms to prairie dogs, humans have impact on environment By Ryan D. Wilson - Clay Center Dispatch - 09/17/2010 Gifted instructor Elby Adamson said he does not consider himself a "rabid environmentalist," but when it comes to teaching kids about the environment, he teaches them "there are no free lunches." In other words, there are trade-offs to everything you do, he told Lion's Club members on Tuesday. More... |
| The South Unit of Badlands National Park is Likely to Become America's First Tribal National Park By Bob Janiskee - National Parks Traveler - 09/13/2010 Pending the results of management plan vetting currently under way, the National Park Service is primed to turn the South Unit of Badlands National Park over to the Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) for management as America's first tribal national park. In other words, it looks like the Oglala Sioux Tribe is going to get their half of the park back. More... |
| Another Kind of Coloradan Looking For Help Staying in Their Homes By Eric Mack - Public News Service - 07/05/2010 A bird called the mountain plover is being considered for greater protection by the federal government. The plover is a small brown bird that's being proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act for a third time. More... |
| S.D. ranchers fear wilderness act steals control By Thom Gabrukiewicz - ArgusLeader.com - 07/04/2010 A low carpet of greens and browns helps soften the landscape, the erosion that's carved steep wedges leading to gravel-filled creeks, where chalky waters flow like a melted vanilla malt. Above the ever-present rush of the wind, nature resonates. More... |
| USDA Adds More Acres to Habitat Restoration Projects under SAFE to Allow Landowners in Colorado and Washington to Advance Conservation Efforts USDA Newsroom - 05/12/2010 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA has approved 45,000 acres for two conservation projects under the Conservation Reserve Program called "State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement," or SAFE. "One of the important goals of SAFE initiative projects is to protect and restore habitats for rare, threatened or endangered wildlife and we are particularly interested in working with farmers and ranchers to conserve rare species before they have to be listed under the Endangered Species Act," Vilsack said. More... |
| Why the Buffalo Can’t Roam By Hillary Rosner - 05/11/2010 In front of Karrie Taggart's tidy, red-roofed Montana house, half a dozen bison relax in the spring sun. Others amble slowly along the road, graze in yards, or doze in driveways, untroubled by the occasional passing car, pedestrian, or dog. Their distinctive profiles, with sloping shoulders and furry, horned heads, create a bizarre picture beside the hot tubs and satellite dishes. More... |
| 2009 Year in Review See what we accomplished in 2009. From Kansas to Canada to Conata Basin, Prairie Wildlife Research was busy helping black-footed ferrets return to the wild. Read our 2009 Year in Review for highlights of our achievements. |
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