In the open grasslands of South Dakota, not far from the dramatic rock formations of Badlands National Park, lives one of the continent’s cutest, fiercest, and rarest animals: the black-footed ferret. Black-footed ferrets, weasel-like animals with distinctive dark bands around their eyes and black feet, are ruthless little hunters. At night, they dive into burrows […]
Tag: prairie dogs
Study of more than 600 animal and plant species finds genetic diversity has declined globally
Genetic diversity in animals and plants has declined globally over the past three decades, an analysis of more than 600 species has found. The research, published in the journal Nature, found declines in two-thirds of the populations studied, but noted that urgent conservation efforts could halt or even reverse genetic diversity losses. Dozens of scientists […]
Endangered Cloned Ferret Gives Birth to Healthy Kits
A significant advancement in wildlife Conservation has been achieved with the birth of two healthy kits from Antonia, a cloned black-footed ferret. Antonia’s existence traces back to Willa, a genetically diverse ferret whose genetic material has been preserved since 1988 at the San Diego Zoo’s Frozen Zoo. Cloning Willa’s cells has offered hope for increasing […]
New trackers bring prairie dogs’ little-known underground life to light
To say tracking prairie dogs is difficult would be an understatement. The animals spend most of their time in burrows. Since conventional GPS collars don’t function underground, the movements and interactions of prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) have remained notoriously elusive to the researchers who study them. What do they do? How do they move within […]