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]