The black-footed ferret is a highly specialized predator that depends on prairie dogs for survival. Prairie dogs make up more than 90% of the black-footed ferret’s diet, and prairie dog burrows provide ferrets with dens to raise their young, as well as a means to escape from predators and harsh weather. Ferret habitat largely coincided with the habitats of the black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus), Gunnison’s prairie dog (C. gunnisoni), and the white-tailed prairie dog (C. leucurus). Despite significant recovery successes over the last decade, the black-footed ferret remains one of the most endangered animals in the world. Consider the status of the black-footed ferret. What is the MOST logical contributing factor to its endangered status?

It is small and restricted within populations

Explanation:

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

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