Press Release:
Black-Footed Ferret Population Is Increasing Almost Daily
June 15, 1999
Media contact: Frosty Taylor, BFFRIT Outreach/Education wyoweasel@hotmail.com
The endangered black-footed ferret population in Arizona is growing almost daily as pregnant females give birth in the reintroduction area near Seligman, advised Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists.
The first two litters of the 1999 black-footed ferret reproduction season were born in acclimation pens in Aubrey Valley the week of June 7. The number of kits being born will continue increasing the next few weeks, said Bill Van Pelt, Arizona Game and Fish Department's nongame mammals program manager.
Angie McIntire, the on-site field team leader, said that when the litters were initially checked, one litter consisted of one kit and the another had two kits. But the kits kept coming. By June 9, the first litter had grown to four kits and the other had grown to six. There are more pregnant females ferrets on site that have yet to deliver.
This is the second season for Arizona born kits to be produced in acclimation pens by the endangered ferrets that were reintroduced near Seligman starting 1996.
McIntire said that 15 more black-footed ferrets are expected to produce litters within the next few weeks. Last year 26 kits were born to this endangered species in the Aubrey Valley near Seligman. Of those 26 native born kits, nine were released into the wild.
The Arizona reintroduction project was the first program in the nation to produce kits in acclimation pens as a management tool. The Arizona project is a cooperative effort between the AGFD, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona State Land Department, The Phoenix Zoo, and the Navajo and Haulapai Nations. The primary funding for the ferret project is the department's Heritage Program that is supported from the Arizona Lottery (you win even if you don't play).
Media Note: Any media that would like to get photographs/videos of the baby ferrets should contact Frosty Taylor at 789-3223.
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