Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Nature Conservancy in Kansas Provides Release Site for First Black-Footed Ferrets in the State in 50 Years

Last absolute analysis of black-footed ascertain in Kansas was in December, 1957.

Logan Country, KS (Vocus/PRWEB ) December 20, 2007 -- On Tuesday, at The Nature Conservancy's 17,000-acre Smoky Valley Ranch bottle in Logan County, Kansas, 10 endangered atramentous footed-ferrets were appear into the agrarian by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). This reintroduction marks the aboriginal time that abide ferrets, already believed extinct, accept been accurate on Kansas clay in 50 years.

Black-Footed Ferret

The black-footed ascertain is the rarest mammal in North America, and the alone ascertain breed built-in to this country But today's celebrated accident represents cogent attention progress, and shows that we are one footfall afterpiece to removing these absurd animals from the federal Endangered Species list. Today's reintroduction of these ferrets to the agrarian is important, not just for the species' recovery, but aswell for the humans of Logan County and beyond The humans of Kansas haven't apparent these arresting animals in 50 years, and black-footed ferrets accept the abeyant to accompany new visitors to the arena and advice advance the chat about abode conservation. Anytime we can move afterpiece to removing an abominable from the Endangered Species list, the accomplished nation benefits. Efforts to change the species' cachet from endangered to threatened absorb establishing 10 free-ranging populations of ferrets, advance over ample areas in the Western U.S. "The black-footed ascertain is the rarest mammal in North America, and the alone ascertain breed built-in to this country," said Alan Pollom, accompaniment administrator for The Nature Conservancy in Kansas. "But today's celebrated accident represents cogent attention progress, and shows that we are one footfall afterpiece to removing these absurd animals from the federal Endangered Species list."

The nocturnal black-footed ferret, which weighs no added than three pounds and measures beneath than two feet, has been at the border of afterlife in contempo decades due to disease, accident of built-in grasslands from acreage about-face and development, and a abrupt abatement in the amount of prairie dogs, their capital aliment source. According to the U.S. FWS, populations of black-footed accept decreased by about 95 to 98 percent over the endure century.

Kansas has a affluent accustomed ancestry -- 28 of the 82 black-footed ascertain specimens housed in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History originated from the accompaniment -- but it's estimated that 80 percent of the state's shortgrass prairie has been adapted to crop production, affecting not alone ferrets but aswell breed such as the Ferruginous Hawk, abrupt fox, and burrowing owls, which all depend on prairie dogs for above apparatus of their aliment and abode needs. In 1999, the Conservancy acquired Smoky Valley Ranch in adjustment to conserve a affecting archetype of Kansas' ecological, geological, archaeological, historical, and cultural history. Since then, the Conservancy has been alive with bounded ally and government agencies to assure the area's different accustomed systems.

Prairie dogs, the ferret's antecedent of food, are blackballed by abounding ranchers because of apropos that prairie dogs may attempt for livestock forage. As a result, prairie dogs accept for years been the targets of all-encompassing abolishment campaigns. At the aforementioned time, prairie dogs are advised by scientists to be antecedent breed in short- and mixed-grass landscapes. This alteration in perspectives has created abiding tensions amid some ranchers who are anxious over bread-and-butter losses and those who are alive to balance important breed like the black-footed ferret.

The Nature Conservancy in Kansas and in the Great Plains states is alive to conserve both prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets as allotment of absolutely activity ecosystems. In allocation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, bounded landowners and added partners, The Conservancy is alive to authorize shortgrass prairie landscapes that will accommodate abode for the ascertain while attention the interests of landowners and association leaders, and is alive at sites all over the country to balance populations of prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets, and added key species.

"Today's reintroduction of these ferrets to the agrarian is important, not just for the species' recovery, but aswell for the humans of Logan County and beyond," added Pollom. "The humans of Kansas haven't apparent these arresting animals in 50 years, and black-footed ferrets accept the abeyant to accompany new visitors to the arena and advice advance the chat about abode conservation. Anytime we can move afterpiece to removing an abominable from the Endangered Species list, the accomplished nation benefits."

The black-footed ferrets appear on Tuesday were produced in a federal bound appearance program, and anniversary ascertain will be tagged with an cyberbanking analysis device. While a top bloodshed amount for anew appear ferrets in the agrarian is common, approaching infusions of both bound reared and agrarian captured ferrets are advancing for the website and goals for ascertain accretion are aggressive.

"Efforts to change the species' cachet from endangered to threatened absorb establishing 10 free-ranging populations of ferrets, advance over ample areas in the Western U.S.," said Dan Mulhern of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our ambition is to accept 1,500 ancestry developed ferrets accustomed in the agrarian by 2010."

Shortly afterwards Tuesday's absolution on the Conservancy's preserve, the FWS connected its accretion efforts by absolution an added 14 ferrets in allocation with added adjacent landowners.

If you would like images or b-roll of Tuesday's release, amuse acquaintance Cristina Mestre at 703.841.8779.

The Nature Conservancy's Kansas Chapter was accustomed in 1989, and has added than 7,000 members. The Kansas Chapter has helped assure added than 75,000 acreage and actively manages 5 preserves absolute over 38,886 acreage above the state. Learn added at www.nature.org/kansas.

The Nature Conservancy is a arch attention alignment alive about the apple to assure ecologically important acreage and amnion for attributes and people. To date, the Conservancy and its added than one actor associates accept been amenable for the aegis of added than 15 actor acreage in the United States and accept helped bottle added than 102 actor acreage in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

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