Conservation Efforts

The Phoenix Zoo is proud to participate in conservation efforts to save the endangered black-footed ferret. In 1985, researchers discovered the dire situation facing black-footed ferrets. Biologists surveyed the species in Wyoming to find that there were very few of them left and decided to capture 18 individuals to create a breeding program. Since 1988, governmental agencies, zoos and private land owners have worked together to bring this species back from the brink of extinction.

The Phoenix Zoo has been an active participant in the conservation and reintroduction of the endangered black-footed ferret (BFF) since we opened our breeding facility in 1992. We are one of only five facilities in the country that participate in the BFF breeding program. Our facility has produced more than 380 ferrets, 85 of which have been released to the wild locally at the Aubrey Valley reintroduction site near Seligman Arizona. Today, researchers estimate that there are approximately 250 ferrets in captive breeding programs and upwards of 660 ferrets in the wild! You can help The Phoenix Zoo in its efforts to save this important species by purchasing a black-footed ferret SPOTZ package!

Check out our partnership with US Fish and Wildlife Service

Black-footed ferret fact sheet

History of the black-footed ferret

The Phoenix Zoo's ferret breeding compound

News updates on the black-footed ferret

Ways you can help the black-footed ferret