Friends and colleagues-

I have some news, if you haven't heard, about black-footed ferrets in
Conata Basin, South Dakota, where I've worked on ferrets for the past
13 years. On May 15th sylvatic plague was confirmed in the prairie dogs
of Conata Basin, home to one of the largest populations of black-footed
ferrets in the world. Plague is a bacterial disease that is fatal to
both ferrets and their primary prey, prairie dogs, and is the same
disease that devastated human populations in the European Middle Ages.
Plague can move quickly in the environment and we don't completely
understand all aspects of the disease as it pertains to ferrets and
prairie dogs.

At this point we know approximately 4,000 acres (of the 30,000 total
acres) of prairie dogs have been affected, and it will likely spread
further. Several federal agencies and organizations have begun the
battle against plague. The federal agencies are focused upon killing
fleas, a known vector of plague, by spraying dust into prairie dog
burrows. I've begun vaccinating ferrets against plague with a vaccine
we obtain from the army (because plague is a high bio-terrorism
threat). It requires me to spotlight, capture and inject each ferret
two times at least two weeks apart (i.e. an initial shot and then a
booster). The combination of dusting and vaccine is very effective in
halting plague, if it can be accomplished quick enough. We are in a
race against time right now, not knowing where and how fast plague will
spread before we can get there with vaccine and dust. Both efforts will
persist throughout the summer and into fall. Recently we've received
quite a bit of rainfall in South Dakota making it nearly impossible
to accomplish field work. Even a little bit of rain turns the soil
into gumbo and you're instantly stuck. I've spent five nights so far
slogging around in the mud to capture and vaccinate ferrets. Moist,
humid conditions can also promote the flea population and further the
spread of plague.

Plague is not a stranger to black-footed ferret recovery but it is
new to Conata Basin. Many folks have been fighting the battle against
plague for years and now it is our turn. As the conditions dry out I
will continue to vaccinate ferrets and crews will begin the dusting
effort. I am confident that we will preserve a viable population of
black-footed ferrets in Conata Basin. I also feel very fortunate
that this battle is a biological one and not political (e.g. when
politicians want to poison prairie dogs) because the remedy is
apparent. We need to vaccinate ferrets and dust prairie dog burrows
NOW. I need your support NOW. The battle against plague will be ongoing
but the first steps (i.e. vaccinating and dusting) are the largest. You
can help by "adopting" a black-footed ferret online, it takes less than
10 minutes, and those funds go directly to the field in Conata Basin
for vaccinating ferrets. Go to <http://www.prairiewildlife.org/> and
sponsor a black-footed ferret NOW and tell your friends and family to
do the same. It's the easiest and most effective thing you can do for
black-footed ferrets.

I thank you for all of the help and support you've given. I will try to
keep you updated on the latest and make sure to post it on our website.

Thank you so much,
Travis Livieri
Prairie Wildlife Research
<http://www.prairiewildlife.org/>

[Posted in FML 5993]