A litter of endangered black-footed ferrets was born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, this week. Aristides, a one-year-old female, gave birth to six kits on May 11. The zoo’s animal care staff is monitoring the newborn ferrets through the Black-Footed Ferret Cam, a temporary live webcam available on the NZCBI website.
From four days old, the kits will undergo regular check-ups to ensure they are developing normally and gaining weight. Around ten days old, they will have a neonatal exam to determine their sexes.
This litter is Aristides’ second, following her first last year at NZCBI. The kits’ father, Thanos, is a two-year-old male from the Phoenix Zoo, who also had a litter at NZCBI last year. Both ferrets received a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) program. The program tracks individual animals’ lineages in a “studbook” to recommend breeding pairs, ensuring genetic diversity in the population. Aristides is one of 19 breeding female black-footed ferrets at NZCBI, with Paul Marinari, senior curator of animal care sciences, serving as the studbook keeper for the species.
Black-footed ferret kits are born blind, weigh less than 10 grams, and have a thin layer of white fur. Their distinctive mask-like eye markings and dark feet markings appear at around three weeks old, and they open their eyes at about 37 days old. Between 45 to 50 days old, the kits will start exploring their den and the tunnel systems in their enclosures, which mimic the prairie dog burrows where they live in the wild.
The kits will nurse for about a month before starting to eat solid food. Around three to four months old, they will separate from their mother. In August, the SAFE program will conduct a genetic assessment of the black-footed ferret population in human care. This assessment will determine if the kits will stay at NZCBI, move to another breeding facility, or join the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) pre-conditioning program to prepare for release into the wild. This program helps ferrets learn to live in burrows and catch prey before reintroduction.
Black-footed ferrets are North America’s only native ferrets and were thought to be extinct until 1981 when a colony was discovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming. The USFWS and the Wyoming Game Department brought 18 ferrets into human care to save the species. Since 1989, NZCBI has been part of a cooperative breeding program that has produced 1,218 kits, with over 750 reintroduced to the wild. Currently, 48 black-footed ferrets live at NZCBI.
The Smithsonian’s NZCBI leads efforts to save species, understand ecosystems, and train future conservationists. Its campuses in Washington, D.C., and Virginia are home to critically endangered species. The Zoo’s 163-acre park in D.C. is free to the public and features 2,100 animals representing 400 species. The Conservation Biology Institute’s 3,200-acre campus in Virginia focuses on breeding and veterinary research for 250 animals of 20 species, providing data for animal management and conservation insights. NZCBI’s team of over 300 staff and scientists works globally to save wildlife, collaborate with communities, and conserve habitats.
