Many people are trying to save the black-footed ferret.  Government groups, wildlife agencies, landowners, First Nations people, and zoos are all helping to keep black-footed ferrets alive in the wild.       

There are some things that are being done to help black-footed ferrets survive.  First, they are protected from hunting and trade by the Endangered Species Act.  Second, in the 1980s, people captured the few ferrets left alive in the wild and began breeding them in captivity. Some programs were begun by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. The Toronto Zoo has also bred hundreds of ferrets to be released back into the wild. Zoos in Virginia, Nebraska, Colorado, Kentucky, and Phoenix have bred ferrets in the United States.  Ferrets have been released into the wild in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Arizona. Parks Canada plans to release up to 50 black-footed ferrets in the Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan following public meetings.