Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Program

The only ferret native to North America, the black-footed ferret once thrived across grass prairies from Canada to Mexico. But today it is one of he most endangered mammals in North America.

Black-footed ferrets came to the brink of extinction in the early 1980s when only seven animals remained. The main cause of their decline was human extermination of prairie dogs, the ferrets' favorite food source.

To restore the native ferret population to North America's Great Plains, five zoos, including Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, are participating in an aggressive captive breeding and reintroduction program that is making progress toward recovering the native ferret population.

FORT CARSON PRESS RELEASE: December 17, 2008 - Agencies host open house on proposed experimental reintroduction of black-footed ferrets to Fort Carson