Martekor+Martey-+Black-footed+Ferret

= Black-Footed Ferret=

=Common Name: Black-Footed Ferret = =Scientific Name: Mustela Nigripes=  Height: 6 inches Length: 18-24 inches (including a 5-6 inch tail) Weight: 1.5-2.5 lbs; males slightly larger than females Lifespaned:3-4 years in the wild; 8-9 years in captivity

=Niche:= Diet: Their diet contains of 90% prairie dogs they can eat up to 100 prairie dogs a year. Also they eat things like ground squirrels, small rodents, also birds and rabbits.

 Ground Squirrel  Small Rodents =Reproduction: =  A black-footed ferret can produce offsprings of 1-7 kit.Also there mating season is between March through April and then the offsprings are born between May and June.

=Behaviors: =

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The Black-Footed Ferret is eat and sleep abd raise there yound in the areas of the paririe dog burrowsspend about 90% of there time underground. They sleep during the day and hunt paririe dogs at night. ====== = = =Natural Habitat: =  They live the Great Plains starting from Southern Canda down through Northern Mexico. Going through the states of Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Kansas and Chihuahua, Mexico. =Why this animal is endangered and how long:=

 Since the black-footed ferret lives in the parire dog burrows and they also eat them they are completly dependent on the parire dog colonies they really couldn't live without them. The reason that this animal is endanger is because the parire dogs population has gone down 5% because of habitat destrucution, poisoning, shooting, and exotic disease (sylvatic plague). The praire dogs coloines are lessing and continue today due to all of these threats. The first time that the black footed ferret was anounced endanger was in 1973 whent eh endanged act was put into place. The were announced threathened in 1967. = =

=Endangered Species Act 1973:=

The endangered species act of 1973 has 3 rules to it. One that it it determines which species are threatened and which are endangered. Second prohibits possesion of the animal, sale, and transport of endangered species. Three gives land to the endangered species.

=Endangered vs. Threathened:=

When we call an animal that is endangered is when the animal is near extintion. Or has a 50% probability of extinction within 10 years or even an 20% in the last 20 years thats when an animal is endanger. Threathened is when an animal is getting killed rapidly but not close to extintion.

=Organizations:= The Black footed- ferret recovery team was created in 1996. This agency is lead by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,which is from federal and state governments, zoos, private landowners and nonprofit organizations. The goal that they have for the black footed ferret is to establish10 seperate, free-raging wild black-footed ferret populations in order to consider the species from the threatened status.

=How many are left:= As of 2007 about over 600 are in the United States. About 250-270 are being housed in captivity.

=Competitive or Symbolic:= They are competitve animals. In the neighboorhood of the Great Plains there alot of animals that eat parire dogs. But that not there number one food to eat. Other animals like snakes eat these paririe dogs and that also reduces the amount for the black footed ferrets.

=Citations:= [] @http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/black-footed_ferret.php @http://www.blackfootedferret.org/ferret-facts.htm