Three groups ask feds to protect reintroduced ferrets

Three environmental groups say they are petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect reintroduced populations of black-footed ferrets as endangered. The federal government already protects black-footed ferrets as an endangered species. But it's a Catch-22: The protection doesn't apply to 17 reintroduced ferret populations in eight states, which are the only black-footed ferrets known to exist in the wild. Instead of being endangered, they are considered "nonessential experimental" populations. The groups WildEarth Guardians, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and Center for Native Ecosystems want three black-footed ferret populations - in western Arizona's Aubrey Valley, southwestern South Dakota's Conata Basin and southeast Wyoming's Shirley Basin - designated as endangered. The groups announced Tuesday that they had submitted an endangered species petition to the Fish and Wildlife Service. One problem the ferrets face is how the same government agencies overseeing them also work to exterminate nearby populations of prairie dogs, said Lauren McCain, desert and grasslands policy director for Santa Fe, N.M.-based WildEarth Guardians. Prairie dogs are black-footed ferrets' only prey...AP