National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Wind Cave National Park Black-Footed Ferret Reintroduction – 5-Year Review Natural Resource Report NPS/WICA/NRR—2015/916 ON THE COVER A black-footed ferret being reintroduced to Wind Cave National Park by Barbara Muenchau. Photograph courtesy of National Park Service/Tom Farrell Wind Cave National Park Black-Footed Ferret Reintroduction – 5-Year Review Natural Resource Report NPS/WICA/NRR—2015/916 Travis M. Livieri Prairie Wildlife Research P.O. Box 308 Wellington, CO 80549 Barbara L. Muenchau, Daniel E. Roddy Wind Cave National Park 26611 US Highway 385 Hot Springs, SD 57747 Daniel S. Licht National Park Service 231 E. Saint Joseph St. Rapid City, SD 57701 February 2015 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate comprehensive information and analysis about natural resources and related topics concerning lands managed by the National Park Service. The series supports the advancement of science, informed decision-making, and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series also provides a forum for presenting more lengthy results that may not be accepted by publications with page limitations. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. This report received formal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data, and whose background and expertise put them on par technically and scientifically with the authors of the information. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. This report is available in digital format from the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). To receive this report in a format optimized for screen readers, please email [email protected]. Please cite this publication as: Livieri, T. M., B. L. Muenchau, D. E. Roddy, and D. S. Licht. 2015. Wind Cave National Park black- footed ferret reintroduction – 5-year review. Natural Resource Report NPS/WICA/NRR—2015/916. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 108/127928, February 2015 ii Contents Page Contents .......................................................................................................................................... iii Figures ............................................................................................................................................. v Tables ............................................................................................................................................. vi Appendices .................................................................................................................................... vii Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Study Area ....................................................................................................................................... 2 History, Size, and Distribution of Prairie Dog Colonies ............................................................. 3 History of Black-footed Ferrets at the Park ................................................................................ 9 History and Status of Plague at the Park ...................................................................................11 Status of other Wildlife at the Park ...........................................................................................12 Reintroduction.................................................................................................................................14 Pre-release Studies and Preparation ..........................................................................................14 Goals of the Reintroduction ......................................................................................................16 The Reintroduction ..................................................................................................................16 Post-release Management Actions ...................................................................................................21 Habitat .....................................................................................................................................21 Plague ......................................................................................................................................21 Education and Outreach ...........................................................................................................29 Monitoring ......................................................................................................................................30 Methods ...................................................................................................................................30 Results .....................................................................................................................................31 Ferret Monitoring ................................................................................................................31 Prairie Dog Monitoring .......................................................................................................38 Plague Monitoring ...............................................................................................................38 iii Contents Page Discussion .......................................................................................................................................41 Future Actions and Management Recommendations ........................................................................43 Literature Cited ...............................................................................................................................45 iv Figures Page Figure 1. Typical scene showing a mixture of prairie and ponderosa pine forest. .............................. 3 Figure 2. A black-tailed prairie dog family. ..................................................................................... 4 Figure 3. Prairie dog colonies in Wind Cave National Park from 2004-2006. ................................... 9 Figure 4. A just-released black-footed ferret at Wind Cave National Park. ......................................10 Figure 5. Releasing black-footed ferrets in the Norbeck Prairie Dog Colony in 2007. .....................16 Figure 6. Media at a 2007 release of a black-footed ferret. ..............................................................17 Figure 7. Black-footed ferret release sites in 2007. ..........................................................................18 Figure 8. Black-footed ferret release sites in 2010. ..........................................................................19 Figure 9. Park staff dusting burrows. ..............................................................................................22 Figure 10. Map of prairie dog colonies dusted in 2008. ...................................................................23 Figure 11. Map of prairie dog colonies dusted in 2009. ...................................................................24 Figure 12. Map of prairie dog colonies dusted in 2010. ...................................................................25 Figure 13. Map of prairie dog colonies dusted in 2011. ...................................................................26 Figure 14. Map of prairie dog colonies dusted in 2012. ...................................................................27 Figure 15. Drawing blood from an anesthetized ferret. ....................................................................28 Figure 16. Black-footed ferret caught in a trap (in Conata Basin). ...................................................30 Figure 17. Locations of ferrets observed by spotlighting 2007-2012................................................32 Figure 18. Ferret observations by spotlighting and distance from road. ...........................................33 Figure 19. Spotlight survey effort and estimated ferret population 2007-2012. ................................35 Figure 20. Swabbing a prairie dog burrow to collect fleas for plague surveillance. ..........................39 v Tables Page Table 1. Size of prairie dog colonies (in acres) and changes over time.