And now for something completely different....

Endangered ferret bounces back in Wyoming
By Alison Williams
Los Angeles Times

Black-footed ferrets, one of the most endangered mammals in North America, are staging a rapid comeback in the Shirley Basin of Wyoming, scientists said Thursday.

A decade after they were given up for goners, the ferret population in the area has grown from five to an estimated 220 -- a figure based on surveying 14% of the area's available habitat, according to a report in the journal Science.

"We hear so much about how the Endangered Species Act is broken and animals go extinct. But when given a chance and when people work together, endangered species can recover," said Jonathan Proctor of Defenders of Wildlife, who was not connected with the study.

Lead author Martin Grenier of Wyoming Game and Fish and the University of Wyoming said it was still unclear why the ferret had made such a comeback.

"We need to look back within ourselves and say, OK, what piece of the puzzle are we missing?" he said. "Why are we not seeing this kind of pattern at all our sites?"

Black-footed ferrets, the only species of ferret native to North America, have been listed as endangered since the original version of the act in 1967.

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