On October 5, 2015, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe helped release 30 black-footed ferrets at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado. The black-footed ferret is considered one of the most endangered mammals in the United States. Its historic range spans much of the western North America’s inter-mountain and prairie grasslands extending from Canada to Mexico. Once thought to be extinct, they were rediscovered in 1981 in Northwest Wyoming. These last remaining 18 ferrets became the genesis of the captive breeding program that has given hope the species could be saved from extinction and recovered in the wild.
Photo Credit: Ryan Moehring / USFWS
Date 5 October 2015, 15:52
Source Black-footed Ferret at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
Author USFWS Mountain-Prairie
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-footed_Ferret_at_Rocky_Mountain_Arsenal_National_Wildlife_Refuge_(21810051839).jpg

The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), also known as the American polecat or prairie dog hunter, is a species of mustelid native to central North America. The black-footed ferret is roughly the size of a mink, and differs from the European polecat by the greater contrast between its dark limbs and pale body and the shorter length of its black tail-tip. In contrast, differences between the black-footed ferret and the steppe polecat of Asia are slight, to the point where the two species were once thought to be conspecific. The only noticeable differences between the black-footed ferret and the steppe polecat are the former's much shorter and coarser fur, larger ears, and longer postmolar extension of the palate. It is largely nocturnal and solitary, except when breeding or raising litters. Up to 91% of its diet is composed of prairie dogs.
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Family: Mustelidae
Genus: Mustela
Species: Mustela nigripes (Audubon & Bachman, 1851)