Meet your prairie BFF

Black-footed ferrets are making their comeback. Read on to find out how! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Black-Footed Ferret - J Michael Lockhart/USFWS] Home, home on the range… What’s a black-footed ferret? Beneath the vast, windswept American prairie, tiny hunters sleep through the day. They emerge by nightfall, first as a pair of round ears and dark-masked eyes, followed by a long body and fluffy tail – the unmistakable markers of black-footed ferrets! Once thought extinct in the wild, these elusive grassland critters are making a comeback. Where can they be found? Once, thousands of these ferrets ranged from Canada to Mexico. Prairie dogs are their primary prey, so black-footed ferrets have always gone where the prairie dogs are. Sadly, in the past 150 years we have lost 97% of prairie dogs within their historic range. As they disappeared, there has been a cascade of negative consequences for grassland wildlife that depend on prairie dogs for food and use their burrows. Now only about 400 black-footed ferrets remain, mostly on major recovery sites like the Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grasslands and Badlands National Park in South Dakota. So what's been happening? Since black-footed ferrets were rediscovered on a Wyoming ranch in 1981, conservationists have worked hard to restore them to the prairie. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led a captive breeding and release program to give ferret recovery a fighting chance. Still, the struggle continues: Remaining prairie dog colonies are small and often separated by great distances, and the success of ferret reintroduction depends on protecting prairie dog populations across large expanses of grasslands. How can we help? Defenders is a key player in the effort to save black-footed ferrets and other prairie wildlife. We fought hard to protect prairie dogs for the ferret population of Conata Basin and continue to fight for ferret recovery on Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming. We also work with land management agencies, nonprofits and landowners to maintain and expand prairie dog habitat on active ferret recovery sites. The support of members like you empowers our efforts to reintroduce, protect and recover these incredible creatures! [Learn more about ferrets and other prairie wildlife!]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Defenders of Wildlife 1130 17th Street NW • Washington, DC 20036 defenders.org --------------------------------------------------------------- Photo credit: Black-Footed Ferret © J Michael Lockhart/USFWS This email was sent to {EMAIL} Please do not respond to this email. [Unsubscribe here]( or update your preferences [here!]( [supporter]