I marched across the short, crunchy buffalo grass with a pet carrier in each hand, looking down to prevent myself from stumbling on a cholla cactus, prairie dog burrow or rattlesnake. It was a bad time to be clumsy. I held precious cargo—one black-footed ferret per carrier—two of the fewer than 700 ferrets that make up the entire population of the species.
Six hours earlier, the animals had been plucked from the safety of captivity at the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in northern Colorado to make the journey down to southeastern Colorado with 28 of their friends. Several people in my group of 15 also carried ferrets, including officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, two of my Defenders of Wildlife colleagues, and my best friend of 30 years, Nicole.
Precious Cargo: My Experience with Black-Footed Ferret Reintroduction
Six hours earlier, the animals had been plucked from the safety of captivity at the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in northern Colorado to make the journey down to southeastern Colorado with 28 of their friends. Several people in my group of 15 also carried ferrets, including officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, two of my Defenders of Wildlife colleagues, and my best friend of 30 years, Nicole.
Precious Cargo: My Experience with Black-Footed Ferret Reintroduction