Only a small handful of endangered species have been reunited in their respective populations in recent decades. The black-footed ferret (also recognized by its scientific name Mustela Nigripes) was considered one of the most endangered animals in the United States and has completely disappeared from Canada. Black-footed ferrets were declared extinct in 1974. In 1981, a miracle happened. when a ferret was discovered in Meeteetsee, Wyoming, when John and Lucille Hogg's ranch dog killed a black-footed ferret and brought the dead animal home; they took the corpse to an experienced taxidermist, Larry LaFranchie. This has become a great opportunity to save the species. In 1985, a terrible disease attacked the small ferret population and many of the remaining animals were taken into captivity in a desperate effort to save what was left. Captive breeding was initiated soon after and a reintroduction program began in 1991. In this article I will discuss the threats, habitat and habitat loss of the black-footed ferret, the he importance of agriculture and how it affects the black-footed ferret today. and how prairie dog colonies affect where the black-footed ferret lives. I will discuss how they reproduce, their behaviors and their importance to an ecosystem. Ferrets are obligate predators of prairie dogs. It is called a specialist predator because it only eats prairie dogs. Ferrets feed on prairie dogs and use their burrows for shelter and birthing. The ferret takes control of the burrow by strangling and eating them. Black-footed ferrets eat a lot of prairie dogs; a family of 4 ferrets eats up to 250 prairie dogs per year. In the 20th century, prairie dogs were persecuted due to fleas or by eating dead prairie dogs that had been infected and died from it in their system. Through this encounter with this disease, the US Army and the US Geological Survey concocted a vaccine which was found to be effective in preventing this disease. They inject this vaccine into the burrows, about 3 weeks later it provides lifelong immunity against the plague. Captive ferrets are injected before being released into the wild, and efforts have been made to inject wild ferrets, but this attempt is intense and time-consuming. 0 http://www.defenders.org/black-footed-ferret/basic-facts http://www.ferret-world.com/black-footedferrethabitat.html http://www.blackfootedferret.org/who-we -are http://www.blackfootedferret.org/diseasehttp://www.blackfootedferret.org/history