Wildlife Nation Exclusive Clip: The Great Plains Join host Jeff Corwin on an epic adventure across the Great Plains of the United States on a mission to understand the connection between the incredible species that call it home. First, Jeff travels
Join host Jeff Corwin on an epic adventure across the Great Plains of the United States on a mission to understand the connection between the incredible species that call it home. First, Jeff travels to the Canadian border to help Native American tribes re-establish bison across tribal lands. Jeff learns how ancient bison herds once shaped the Great Plains and how modern conservationists are fighting to bring those herds back. Later, Jeff works with biologists to manage a delicate population of black-footed ferrets, a species once believed to be extinct. Jeff discovers how wild bison play a vital role in ferret survival and the survival of the Great Plains themselves.
Video transcript:
Jeff Corwin:
The black-footed ferret was once believed to be extinct, but thanks to critical conservation work, and a little bit of luck, this incredible species has been rescued from the brink. Unfortunately, there are only about 400 left in the wild. In order to protect this fragile population, scientists first need to find them.
Jeff Corwin:
We're back in Montana, this time visiting the Fort Belknap Indian Community, home of the A'aninin and Nakoda tribes. I'm with canine field specialist Melissa Steen and Tule, one of the best black-footed ferret finders in the business.
Jeff Corwin:
So she's basically going from whole to whole sniffing for the presence of a black-footed ferret.
Melissa Steen:
There she goes.
Jeff Corwin:
So what's that behavior mean?
Melissa Steen:
So when she sits she's telling me she's found something.
Jeff Corwin:
So these are actually the borrows of prairie dogs from two to 10 feet into the earth, all snaking and twisting and rooting together. And there's potentially a black-footed ferret here taking advantage of the presence of prairie dogs, because they depend on prairie dogs.
Jeff Corwin:
Prairie dogs are a keystone species. Approximately 150 other species benefit or depend upon prairie dogs for survival, especially the black-footed ferret. Tragically in the 1900s widespread habitat destruction and the arrival of a disease called Sylvatic plague reduced the population by more than 95%. Without prairie dogs, the black-footed ferret almost completely disappeared. The few that remain here at Fort Belknap are some of the last on earth.
Melissa Steen:
So what we do now is we are going to flag this hole. Tule. Good girl. Then I'm going to take my GPS and mark this spot. And that will help inform where they send people out tonight to help look for the ferret.
Jeff Corwin:
So the next layer of this incredible conservation project with black-footed ferrets takes us to the spotlight team.
Jeff Corwin:
Darkness falls quickly over the prairie and I'm teaming up with Chamois Andersen from Defenders of Wildlife.
Jeff Corwin:
Chamois, just kind of going over the horizon with this spotlight. And what are you looking for?
Chamois Anderssen:
Yeah, I'm scanning the prairie for what are green eyes, the sheen of the ferret's eyes are green. They look like emeralds. And they're close to the ground, dipping in and out of the prairie dog burrows. It's sort of like playing tag.
Jeff Corwin:
Finally we find a black-footed ferret.
Jeff Corwin:
All right. So this is where proof is in the pudding.
Jeff Corwin:
The black-footed ferret only survives in this subterranean community of prairie dogs. Now do you just put it in the front?
Chamois Anderssen:
Just straight out like that. Yeah. Correct. And then you want to kind of cover it with the blanket and then we'll take a GPS reading.
Jeff Corwin:
Okay. So way point is saved. The trap is set.
Jeff Corwin:
This creature, for all intents and purposes, it was extinct. What happened?
Chamois Anderssen:
A dog named Shep on a ranch in Meeteetse, Wyoming found a dead black-footed ferret on the property and brought it home to its owners. That's how we realized it was no longer extinct.
Jeff Corwin:
But as irony would have it, soon after discovery, disease came and wiped out most of those surviving ferrets, didn't it?
Chamois Anderssen:
Yeah.
Jeff Corwin:
What caused this collapse, Chamois?
Chamois Anderssen:
It's Sylvatic plague. When we see these prairie dog towns start to decline because of plague, ferrets quickly blink out. So if we can keep plague at bay, ferrets are healthy again.
Jeff Corwin:
All right. My friends, an hour has passed. I'm going to check our trap. Look, furry, little body. The hatch is closed. We've got a ferret. All right. To the camper.
Jeff Corwin:
We take this precious ferret to our field station where biologist Jessica Alexander will collect vital data and administer a life saving vaccine.
Jeff Corwin:
All right. What's the plan, Jess?
Jessica Alexander:
So we're going to move this ferret into the induction chamber.
Jeff Corwin:
Okay.
Jessica Alexander:
So set it down right here so it's lined up with the front, the end of the trap.
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