For the FMLers who have asked, and others who have wondered, the saga of the
black-footed ferrets has not ended.  We, the Society for the Protection and
Conservation of the Black-Footed Ferret, an organization formed as a result
of last Spring's ill-advised release of cage-bound, older black-footed
ferrets, have been exceedingly busy.  We have not posted much on the
FML/Digest due to complaints that we took up too much space during the
controversy.  From our point of view, it was an issue vital to all those who
care about ferrets--wild or domestic--and wildlife in general.  We wanted to
keep everyone informed of what was going on.  Now we are as busy as ever,
since the Feds never seem to let up with the abuse of these rare animals,
but will soon be appearing in your neighborhood on our own BFF home page.
We hope all of you will "stay tuned" because there is much afoot.
 
To briefly summarize, if you will so permit, following the admission of poor
judgement by the U.S.  Fish and Wildllife Service (USFWS) in regard to the
release and subsequent slaughter of all the older ferrets involved, the
American Zoo and Aquarium Association spearheaded a series of meetings to
reevaluate the entire BFF recovery effort.  That started in October and is
still going on, into the Spring.  Representatives of the Society for the
Protection and Conservation of the Black-Footed Ferret (SPCBFF) were invited
to attend (by invitation only attendance), and we did so.
 
Just prior to the first group of meetings, seven of eight BFF kits died of
hyperthermia when transported in a hot car on a hot day in oven-like wooden
boxes between Sybille (Wyoming) and the National Biological Service research
facility at Pueblo, CO The vehicle was air-conditioned, but the travel boxes
do not allow air to circulate, nor do they allow easy observation, much less
emergency treatment of animals in distress.  Several persons have warned the
USFWS of the hazzards of these boxes, to no avail.
 
Then, as the Fall releases of young kits began, so did the release of a few
older animals once again take place, quietly.  In South Dakota, three 3
year-old females were released with their kits.  Two moms are known dead,
one unaccounted for.
[Posted in FML issue 1412]