# data[].attributes.headline
Preconditioning is an important part of reintroducing captive bred black-footed ferrets into the wild. Ferrets are placed in outdoor pens for a minimum of 30 days. While in these pens, they are exposed to natural burrow systems and have the opportunity to encounter live prairie dogs.

# data[].attributes.subject
Preconditioning is an important part of reintroducing captive bred black-footed ferrets into the wild. Ferrets are placed in outdoor pens for a minimum of 30 days. While in these pens, they are exposed to natural burrow systems and have the opportunity to encounter live prairie dogs.

# data[].attributes.body
Before being released, they are vaccinated against canine distemper virus and plague.

# data[].attributes.body
http://blackfootedferret.org/reintroduction/

# data[].attributes.body
The graph to the left depicts the number of BFF kits born at all captive breeding facilities from the beginning of the program through 2010

# data[].attributes.body
Each year, 150-220 black-footed ferrets are preconditioned and reintroduced into the wild from captive breeding programmes. Additionally, a number of wild born ferrets are re-located from self-sustaining reintroduction sites to other sites in order to bolster their populations.

# data[].attributes.body
Since 1986, over 8,500 kits have been produced at the captive breeding facilities.

# data[].attributes.body
Currently, there are 28 black-footed ferret reintroduction sites. Black-footed ferrets have been released in Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico, Canada and Mexico.

# data[].attributes.body
In order to save the species, black-footed ferrets were removed from prairie dog colonies outside of Meeteetse. While earlier attempts to breed members of the Mellette County South Dakota population in captivity were successful in the 1970s, none of the resulting offspring survived.

# data[].attributes.body
For the last thirty years, concerted efforts from many state and federal agencies, zoos, Native American tribes, conservation organizations and private landowners have given black-footed ferrets a second chance for survival.

# data[].attributes.body
Oil and natural gas exploration and extraction can have detrimental impacts on prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets.

# data[].attributes.body
http://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0013_black_footed_ferret.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
Predators of black-footed ferrets include golden eagles, great horned owls, coyotes, American badgers, bobcats, prairie falcons, ferruginous hawks, and prairie rattlesnakes.

# data[].attributes.body
Black-footed ferrets once numbered in the tens of thousands, but were brought to the brink of extinction by the 1960s.

# data[].attributes.body
Sufficient numbers of prairie dogs were born to allow reintroduction to be attempted after just a few years. In 1991, the first reintroduction of 49 juvenile ferrets was completed. Careful monitoring showed that 12 percent of these ferrets were able to survive the winter. The discovery of two wild-born litters was a particularly good sign. A second group of 90 captive-bred ferrets was released in 1992.

# data[].attributes.headline
Black-footed ferrets are susceptible to numerous diseases. They are fatally susceptible to canine distemper virus.

# data[].attributes.subject
Black-footed ferrets are susceptible to numerous diseases. They are fatally susceptible to canine distemper virus.

# data[].attributes.body
Black footed ferrets are members of the weasel family

# data[].attributes.body
Fifteen black-footed ferrets are being released into prairie dog colonies on the Fort Belknap Reservation in September 2015.
A total of 52 ferrets were released in 2013 and 2014.

# data[].attributes.body
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1988.tb00336.x/full

# data[].attributes.body
Black-footed ferrets live only on large prairie dog colonies, and these; prairie dog colonies occur only within central and western grasslands and shrublands. Much of the original grassland habitat in North America has been plowed, and very little of these grasslands are protected even today.

# data[].attributes.body
The black-footed ferret has a tan body with black legs and feet, a black tip on the tail and a black mask. The ferret has short legs with large front paws and claws developed for digging. Its large skull and strong jaw and teeth are adapted for eating meat.

# data[].attributes.body
The black-footed ferret is endangered because the main source of its diet, prairie dogs, is in decline due to habitat loss. A black-footed ferret colony needs at least 10,000 acres of prairie dog colonies in order to survive.

# data[].attributes.body
Black-footed ferrets are one of the most endangered mammals in North America and are the only ferret species native to the continent. Their recovery in the wild signifies the health of the grassland ecosystem which they depend on to survive.

# data[].attributes.headline
Once thought to be globally extinct, black-footed ferrets are making a comeback. For the last thirty years, concerted efforts from many state and federal agencies, zoos, Native American tribes, conservation organizations and private landowners have given black-footed ferrets a second chance for survival

# data[].attributes.subject
Once thought to be globally extinct, black-footed ferrets are making a comeback. For the last thirty years, concerted efforts from many state and federal agencies, zoos, Native American tribes, conservation organizations and private landowners have given black-footed ferrets a second chance for survival

# data[].attributes.body
they were once thought to be extinct but there are over 300 in captive breeding facilities. Making them endangered and not extinct

# data[].attributes.body
The reasons for endangerment are habitat loss and diseases.