# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DeR_xekko4X
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71448689-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/1c0b0dc66b.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-10-09T17:00:03.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

Arizona Game and Fish has released a new group of endangered black-footed ferrets into the wild in northern Arizona.

On the evening of Sept. 14, department staff and volunteers released 24 captive-born ferrets at sites in the Garland Prairie and Aubrey Valley and Double O Ranch areas of Yavapai and Coconino counties. Six were released at Garland Prairie and 18 at the Aubrey Valley and Double O Ranch sites. The ferrets were flown to Seligman earlier that day from the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado, which is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At the center, the captive-born ferrets learned to hunt and survive in the wild before making the trip.

Heather Heimann, the department’s black-footed ferret project specialist, said the release will help the population grow now, and that come spring there will be more chances for males and females to find each other and reproduce, allowing more ferrets to be born in the wild.

The black-footed ferret is North America’s only native ferret species and is recognized by the black markings on its feet, tail and face. Populations dropped sharply in the 20th century because of habitat loss and disease. The biggest threat to recovery today is sylvatic plague, a flea-borne disease that infects both the ferrets and their main prey, Gunnison’s prairie dogs.

This fall, Game and Fish is looking for volunteers to help with spotlighting efforts and population counts to monitor the ferrets and their offspring. Volunteers also assist with releases, disease studies and treatments, and prairie dog surveys, and you can sign up through the department’s volunteer page.

Source: Arizona Game and Fish Department

#Arizona #BlackFootedFerret #ArizonaWildlife #Conservation #NorthernArizona

## Stats

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## Tags

conservation, blackfootedferret, northernarizona, arizona, arizonawildlife

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