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Wildlife biologist says SD ferrets could be wild

By Washington Examiner
Published December 27, 2012 6:50pm ET
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Wildlife biologist says SD ferrets could be wild
FILE - In this file photo taken Sept. 24, 2011 Interior, S.D, Mr. Brightside, named after a song by The Killers, sits in a display at the Ben Reifel Visitors Center at Badlands National Park. He is one of about 300 endangered black-footed ferrets kept in captivity for mating purposes. The black-footed ferret is the only ferret native to North America, and was believed to have gone extinct in the 1970s, however, a small population was rediscovered on Sept. 26, 1981, prompting a recovery effort that has led to the release of about 1,000 ferrets to the wild. (AP Photo/Elijah Van Benschoten, File) | Elijah Van Benschoten

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A species of ferrets once thought to be extinct has been seen outside of special management areas in South Dakota, sparking hope in some biologists that a new wild colony of black-footed ferrets has been discovered.

A wildlife biologist with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said an adult ferret and two juveniles spotted during a nighttime survey in prairie dog towns west of Mobridge could be the first sighting of the creatures in the wild in more than three decades.

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