A decade after their recovery program began at Wind Cave National Park, black-footed ferrets are doing well/NPS file photo

Black-footed ferrets, once thought to be on their way to extinction, have been rebounding in numbers thanks to recovery programs such as the one launched at Wind Cave National Park a decade ago.

Ten years ago this month, seven black-footed ferrets were released in the park located in western South Dakota, marking the first time in 30 years this endangered animal was observed in the park.

“Today we have a self-sustaining black-footed ferret population of approximately 30 to 35 animals,” said park Superintendent Vidal Dávila. “We’d like to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their assistance on this project and the many volunteers who over the years helped study this wild population.”

To celebrate this anniversary, the park is hosting “Ferret Day” on Thursday, July 27. Beginning around 1 p.m. in the park visitor center, there will be live ferrets on display. Assistant chief of interpretation Lennie Ramacher and park biologist Dan Roddy will talk in the visitor center auditorium about the park’s recovery effort at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.. At 2:30 p.m. Travis Livieri, from Prairie Wildlife Research, will discuss field techniques involved with studying ferrets, and at 4:30 p.m. recovery efforts across the West.

The signature event is a program beginning at 7 p.m. in the visitor center auditorium. Speakers include U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative Scott Larson and park biologist Dan Roddy. Light refreshments will be available after the program.

Activities wrap up with a night hike across the prairie. This program begins at the Elk Mountain Amphitheater at 9 p.m. After a brief presentation, the group will caravan by car to a nearby prairie dog town where the ranger will lead the group across the prairie. The program ends at 10:30 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to bring a flashlight, long pants, good hiking shoes, and to dress for the weather.

Once considered the rarest animal in North America, black-footed ferrets were thought to be extinct until 1981, when a ranch dog in Meeteetse, Wyoming, returned home with one. Following an initial captive-breeding program, efforts to create separate populations of ferrets in the West got underway.

They were returned to Wind Cave and other locations in the West under a scientific experimental/recovery permit issued under the Endangered Species Act. This permit allowed the experimental releases to occur within park boundaries, and provided mechanisms to ensure that private property interests outside the park were not impacted.

Since the 2007 initial release of 49 animals, 32 ferrets have been released in the park. The park’s current ferret population represents 10 percent of all the wild ferrets in the world.