LAS ANIMAS, Colo. (KXRM) — Las Animas has 33 new little residents after the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo successfully released endangered black-footed ferrets into the wild as part of its black-footed ferret conservation program on Nov. 25.
In 2024, a record-breaking 37 kits were born into the CMZoo’s breeding program, and several of the ferrets released in November were born at the zoo. The zoo broke ground when they tested baby black-footed ferrets and found that they had successfully bred litters with multiple fathers to the same mother, increasing genetic diversity.
“We’re trying to replicate opportunities observed in nature when female black-footed ferrets mate with multiple mates within the same breeding window,” said Jeff Baughman, field conservation coordinator at CMZoo. “This is the first time we have tried it at CMZoo. We want to learn if it’s possible for black-footed ferret mothers to whelp kits by different fathers in the same litter.”
Black-footed ferrets, the most endangered mammal in North America, were considered extinct until the 1980s when a ranch dog caught one, leading to the discovery of a small population that had survived in Wyoming. That population has been the foundation for recovery efforts for the entire species, with zoos, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center and other organizations cooperating to breed, prepare, release and monitor them.
CMZoo joined the effort in 1991 when its breed-and-release program began. Since then, 647 kits have been born on the mountain, making the zoo a major contributor to recovery efforts as they release the ferrets to protected wild places in Colorado every year.
According to CMZoo, the goal of the release is for the ferrets to breed and survive in the wild. The ferrets born at the zoo went to a “boot camp” to learn survival skills to live in their natural habitat when they were about 3 months old. After adjusting to their new lifestyle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife transported them to the release sites on a ranch protected by the Southern Plains Land Trust near Las Animas.
The team found a suitable burrow previously carved out by prairie dogs and used tubes to encourage the ferrets to climb into their new home. With a “housewarming gift” of some food to get them started before having to hunt on their own, the ferrets are set to start their new lives.
Watch the video from CMZoo above, which shares the story of the black-footed ferrets’ release.
