Black-footed Ferrets: Back from the Brink

Children's Literature

Many species of animals that live in the United States have become endangered. Nine books in the "America's Animal Comebacks" series chronicle this problem and what has been done to keep these animals from becoming extinct. In many cases, the work of one naturalist has been pivotal to recognizing the problem and taking steps to reverse the trends. In 1981, a dog killed a black-footed ferret in Wyoming. Scientists had believed this species was extinct. Until the 1800s, half a million of these animals lived on the American prairie. They lived in the burrows of their primary prey, prairie dogs. As farmers settled the prairie, the prairie dogs were killed because they were considered pests. The poison that was used to kill the prairie dogs killed the black-footed ferrets as well. In 1967, the U.S. government listed them as endangered. Alerted in 1981 to the existence of ferrets in Wyoming, biologist Dennie Hammer captured one and put a transmitter on it to track its movements. After numerous attempts to capture and breed ferrets, scientists were successful. The next challenge was to reintroduce them into the wild. The ferrets had to be trained to hunt. They were then put back into their natural habitat and carefully monitored to determine if they could survive. Their future is promising but uncertain. The text is illustrated with numerous large photographs. An addendum contains a list of ferret facts, a glossary, a bibliography, and a list of web resources. Reviewer: Kristin Harris