Categories
Animal Age

How old does a Black-footed ferret get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a Black-footed ferret reaches?

An adult Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) usually gets as old as 12 years.

Black-footed ferrets are around 43 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 7 grams (0.02 lbs) and measure 2.1 cm (0′ 1″). As a member of the Mustelidae family (genus: Mustela), their offspring is 3 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 39.7 cm (1′ 4″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A Black-footed ferret gets as old as 12 years

The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), also known as the American polecat or prairie dog hunter, is a species of mustelid native to central North America. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN, because of its very small and restricted populations. The species declined throughout the 20th century, primarily as a result of decreases in prairie dog populations and sylvatic plague. It was declared extinct in 1979 until Lucille Hogg’s dog brought a dead black-footed ferret to her door in Meeteetse, Wyoming, in 1981. That remnant population of a few dozen ferrets lasted there until the animals were considered extinct in the wild in 1987. However, a captive-breeding program launched by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in its reintroduction into eight western US states, Canada, and Mexico from 1991 to 2009. Now, over 1,000 mature, wild-born individuals are in the wild across 18 populations, with five self-sustaining populations in South Dakota (two), Arizona, and Wyoming. It was first listed as “endangered” in 1982, then listed as “extinct in the wild” in 1996 before being downgraded back to “endangered” in 2008.The black-footed ferret is roughly the size of a mink, and differs from the European polecat by the greater contrast between its dark limbs and pale body and the shorter length of its black tail-tip. In contrast, differences between the black-footed ferret and the steppe polecat of Asia are slight, to the point where the two species were once thought to be conspecific. The only noticeable differences between the black-footed ferret and the steppe polecat are the former’s much shorter and coarser fur, larger ears, and longer postmolar extension of the palate.It is largely nocturnal and solitary, except when breeding or raising litters. Up to 91% of its diet is composed of prairie dogs.The black‐footed ferret experienced a recent population bottleneck in the wild followed by a more than 30-year recovery through ex situ breeding and then reintroduction into its native range. As such, this sole endemic North American ferret allows examining the impact of a severe genetic restriction on subsequent biological form and function, especially on reproductive traits and success. The black‐footed ferret was listed as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1967. Declared extinct in 1979, a residual wild population was discovered in Meeteetse, Wyoming, in 1981. This cohort eventually grew to 130 individuals and was then nearly extirpated by sylvatic plague Yersinia pestis and canine distemper virus Canine morbillivirus, with eventually 18 animals remaining. These survivors were captured from 1985 to 1987 to serve as the foundation for the black‐footed ferret ex situ breeding program. Seven of those 18 animals produced offspring that survived and reproduced, and with currently living descendants, are the ancestors of all black‐footed ferrets now in the ex situ (about 320) and in situ (about 300) populations.

Animals of the same family as a Black-footed ferret

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Mustelidae):

Animals that reach the same age as Black-footed ferret

With an average age of 12 years, Black-footed ferret are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies Black-footed ferret

The same number of babies at once (3) are born by:

Weighting as much as Black-footed ferret

A fully grown Black-footed ferret reaches around 907 grams (2 lbs). So do these animals:

Animals as big as a Black-footed ferret

Those animals grow as big as a Black-footed ferret: