Last week the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed the presence
of sylvatic plague in Conata Basin, South Dakota, home to one of the
largest black-footed ferret populations in the world. Plague is a
bacterial disease that kills both black-footed ferrets and their prey,
prairie dogs. It is mostly transmitted by fleas and can decimate a
population in a short time. In 2007 I documented 291 individual
black-footed ferrets in Conata Basin and now this population faces
a tremendous threat. I have been working with the Conata Basin
black-footed ferret population since the beginning (1996) and will
spend the upcoming weeks/months in the field in South Dakota fighting
the disease. I will be working closely with several government agencies
to kill fleas to reduce the spread of plague (via dusting prairie dog
burrows) and possibly vaccinating black-footed ferrets. I will be
posting more information on the FML on Friday as the situation
continues to develop (we will also provide information on our website
www.prairiewildlife.org <http://www.prairiewildlife.org/> ) and give
suggestions for those who want to help. I thank you for all of your
support and know that black-footed ferrets will be in your thoughts 
and wishes. Together we will fight against plague and we will continue
to have a thriving black-footed ferret population in Conata Basin,
South Dakota.

Sincerely,
Travis Livieri
Prairie Wildlife Research
<http://www.prairiewildlife.org/>

[Posted in FML 5977]