Once thought to be extinct, the black-footed ferret has been among the wildlife in Utah since being reintroduced in 1999 and a colony in the Coyote Basin area of Uintah County is among the lucky locations in the United States to receive more of the ferrets from special breeding programs again this year. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources released 29 total black-footed ferrets into the Coyote Basin colony on Tuesday, consisting of 25 kids and 4 adult ferrets. The success of reintroduction ebbs and flows across the U.S. due to habitat loss and disease. Prairie dogs are the ferrets main food source and unfortunately, the plague is a problem within prairie dog populations, including the Coyote Basin. As a result, black-footed ferret populations can be easily wiped out. They remain on the endangered species list and it is considered a special privilege for northeastern Utah to be the recipient of some of the new population again this year.
