The importance of thinking big: Large-scale prey conservation drives black-footed ferret reintroduction success

Objective evaluations of wildlife reintroductions are vital for increasing the success of future efforts to reestablish endangered species. Attempts to reintroduce one of the most endangered mammals in North America, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), have been ongoing for 18 years with no quantitative assessment of factors related to reintroduction success. We examined relationships between ferret reintroduction success and factors associated with disease outbreaks, release strategies, and the distribution and abundance of their primary prey, prairie dogs (Cynomys sp.), at 11 reintroduction sites. The most important factor related to ferret reintroduction success was a cumulative metric incorporating both size of the area occupied by prairie dogs and density of prairie dog burrows within that area. Each of the four successful sites had prairie dog populations that occupied an area of at least 4300 ha. No sites with