FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jane Ballentine



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:

Alison Stevenson, AZA

26 August 2004 (301) 562-0777 x248

astevenson@

Dr. Della Garelle

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

(719) 633-9925, x120

dgarelle@

ACCREDITED ZOOS OPPOSED TO PLANNED DESTRUCTION OF PRAIRE DOGS ON ESSENTIAL BLACK-FOOTED FERRET HABITAT IN SOUTH DAKOTA

SILVER SPRING, MD – The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) expressed concern over a new plan by the State of South Dakota, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to destroy prairie dogs on habitat essential to the recovery of the endangered black-footed ferret. Zoos’ successful ferret breeding and research programs have been the backbone of an extensive effort to rescue the black-footed ferret from the brink of extinction (in 1987, just seven animals remained to recover the species).

In a letter to President Bush, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Governor of South Dakota, the AZA stated that plans to poison, trap and shoot prairie dogs in portions of South Dakota’s Buffalo Gap National Grassland—the site of the only self-sustaining black-footed ferret population in the world—could potentially harm the ongoing ferret recovery program and associated recovery efforts by numerous agencies, native American tribes and conservation organizations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Large prairie dog colonies such as the ones found in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland (which is managed by the U.S. Forest Service) are essential for ferret recovery because prairie dogs are the ferrets’ primary food source (over 90% of their diet), and ferrets depend on prairie dog burrows for denning and shelter. Prairie dog poisoning and shooting is now planned on public land that was previously identified as habitat to be managed for black-footed ferrets and where endangered ferrets currently reside.

“Accredited zoos and their partners have worked hard and invested millions of dollars for over a decade to help recover the endangered black-footed ferret. There are no other sites in the world that currently support such a large, viable population of black-footed ferrets,” said Dr. Michael Hutchins, Chair of Conservation and Science for AZA.

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Black-footed ferrets were considered extinct until a few survivors were found in Wyoming in 1981. Since then, a captive breeding and reintroduction effort has raised hopes that the ferret will recover. Out of nine sites where ferret reintroductions have been attempted, only Buffalo Gap National Grassland is considered fully successful to date. Well over 300 ferrets, all descended from captive-bred animals, now live there—more than all other recovery areas combined.

“The biggest challenge to establishing sustainable populations of wild black-footed ferrets is the lack of enough large, healthy prairie dog colonies,” said Carmi Penny, Curator of Mammals at the San Diego Zoo. “Buffalo Gap is one of only a handful of suitable recovery areas that exist in the world today, and we hope that reason will prevail and the hasty decision to further threaten one of America’s most endangered species will be reversed. Otherwise there is little hope for the future of the black-footed ferret.”

Area ranchers believe that prairie dogs have impacted cattle grazing on both the National Grassland and adjoining private lands. The plan calls for both shooting and poisoning of prairie dogs within a buffer zone of up to one mile inside the National Grassland; impacts that will likely affect core ferret habitats. Such control efforts could substantially set back ferret recovery. Up to one third of the core ferret habitat could be lost. Poisoning on public land is to begin October 1 or sooner.

The AZA suggests alternative solutions that benefit both landowners and endangered species recovery efforts. The letter from the AZA requests that federal and state agencies consider the following actions:

• reverse the decision to poison and allow shooting of prairie dogs on black-footed ferret habitat on public lands;

• fully preserve the ferret recovery area within Buffalo Gap’s Conata Basin;

• work with the Department of Interior to release money for compensation or voluntary incentive programs for adjacent landowners who maintain or increase prairie dog populations on their land, or who agree to reduce livestock grazing on adjacent private lands in this drought-stricken area.

AZA zoos working to restore the endangered black-footed ferret and protect the Buffalo Gap reintroduction site from poisoning and shooting are: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado), Louisville Zoological Gardens (Kentucky), National Zoo’s Conservation & Research Center (Virginia), Phoenix Zoo (Arizona), and Toronto Zoo (Canada).

The American Zoo and Aquarium Association was founded in 1924 and currently represents 213 accredited institutions. The AZA’s Species Survival Plans–which include the black-footed ferret—work to provide protection and recovery for some of the world’s most endangered animals.

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