Answering a Call from the Wild

by Megan Kopp, January 1, 2008

Black-footed ferrets poking their heads out of their den.

Courtesy Toronto Zoo

Near-extinct wildlife can make tracks to recovery when scientists and governments cooperate — just ask some East Coast puffins and North America’s only wild ferret.

Going, Going, Gone…Back to the Wild

About 700 black-footed ferrets run wild in North America. That might not sound like a lot but in 1979, scientists thought the continent’s only native ferret species had gone the way of the dodo bird — extinct.

Then, in 1981, a dog killed a ferret on a ranch in Wyoming. This led scientists to a small population of 18 wild ferrets near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Over the next 25 years a captive breeding program helped the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reintroduce ferrets to Wyoming, a few other states, and Mexico. In total, 5800 ferrets have been raised at cooperating zoos and the ferret recovery centre in Denver, Colorado.

Bringing this population up to sustainable levels has been a ride. First there were outbreaks of distemper and then plague. Ferret numbers plummeted. They recovered and survived periods of drought, only to face accidental poisonings. A ferret’s favourite dinner —prairie dog — is considered a pest by some ranchers. When prairie dogs are poisoned, ferret numbers drop.

It’s a rollercoaster ride all right: populations are up one season, and down the next. But the ferrets are hanging on, and they’re poised to repopulate Canada.

Working Together

Toronto Zoo's captive breeding program has been very successful.

Courtesy Toronto Zoo

Since 1992, 300 black-footed ferrets have been born at the Toronto Zoo as part of the captive breeding program. Now it’s Canada’s turn to reintroduce the ferret.

Maria Franke, curator of mammals at the Toronto Zoo, says the ferret will be reintroduced to its prairie home in Saskatchewan. Canadian scientists are working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Saskatchewan ranchers, and ferret-breeding zoos to bring the creature back to Grasslands National Park.

This wildlife wish has been six years in the making. Lots of research has been done, including mapping and population counts of prairie dog towns. (Where dinner roams is where ferrets should thrive.) A recovery team was formed, and a strategy for reintroduction has been written. If the pieces fall into place, 40 black-footed ferrets could be hightailing their way into the wilds later this year. And it would have been impossible without cooperation.

“We are fortunate that we don’t have to rewrite the book,” Franke says. “Trials in the U.S. and Mexico have given us a chance to learn from their successes and failures, but no one will know for sure how this will work until we get the animals on the ground.” She’s feeling pretty optimistic.

Puffin’ Up the Numbers

It took a lot of effort, but puffin reintroduction to Eastern Egg Rock in Maine worked.

by Bill Schlotz

Optimism is key when it comes to long-term success. Imagine waiting eight years to know if your project is even going to work. That’s what Stephen Kress, Director of the Seabird Restoration Program, went through when he hatched the idea to bring puffins back to former nesting islands in Maine. These “sea parrots” were hunted to near extinction in the 1800s — for food and feathers.

Four years and 13 permits after first envisioning the Puffin Project, Dr. Kress had approval from the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) to take six chicks from Great Island, Newfoundland. The Canadian puffin population was thriving (due to its remote location, perfect nesting habitat, and proximity to a rich fishing area), but the CWS was still cautious. They helped collect the chicks and supervised the process on this side of the border, but Dr. Kress had to prove himself. In 1973, he was allowed to take six puffins, 54 the next year, and 100 the year after that. In total, 954 puffins were eventually transferred to Eastern Egg Rock, a 4.5 hectare island off the coast of Maine.

Each year, Dr. Kress flew the chicks 1600 kilometres from Great Island to Eastern Egg Rock in a private plane. But because puffins are born on land and then head out to the open ocean for the next three to four years, he had to wait and see if they would return to their new home. Four years later, the first puffins returned, but it was another four years before chicks hatched on Eastern Egg Rock. By 2007, the island (about the size of eight football fields) had 90 pairs of nesting puffins. That’s good news. Hopefully recovery programs such as these will continue to take flight.

SIDEBAR: Scottish Puffins in Peril

The fate of the Scottish puffin remains to be seen.

Courtesy Dr. Rebecca Boyd

Sounds like a job for super scientists: save Scottish puffins from starving to death. It’s a complicated story that includes overfishing, climate change, and new fish species taking advantage of warmer waters.

Scottish puffins eat sandeels. Overfishing has decreased the sandeel population. While not eaten by people, the long, skinny, oily fish has become valuable as an alternative fuel for power stations in places like Denmark, says Dr. Becky Boyd, a marine policy officer with the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Snake pipefish have also appeared in larger numbers in Scottish waters over the past few years. Snake pipefish are less nutritious than sandeels. Plus, the fish’s hard body armour often makes the puffin chicks choke and die.

“Around Scottish shores, we need to stop catching more fish than fish populations can replenish,” Dr. Boyd says.

So who’s going to step up and rescue Scottish puffins from the threats they face? Anyone? Everyone. We can learn more about the issues, write letters, join environmental groups, and start turning the tide on this wildlife crisis.