No black-footed ferrets found in Meeteetse, 40 years after a rescue saved the species

Wyoming wildlife officials have found no black-footed ferrets in the area where they were once rescued and reintroduced, 40 years after their presumed extinction. The Absaroka Range foothills outside Meeteetse were once the cradle of the species' conservation efforts. A combination of plague and drought is believed to have caused a population collapse in the Meeteetse area.

In 2016, wildlife managers returned ferrets to the wild after a three-decade absence. Despite multiple releases of captive-raised ferrets, plague struck again, and by 2025, only a single ferret was detected during surveys. Rancher Allen Hogg, whose family name became synonymous with black-footed ferrets, expressed disappointment that the animals may have disappeared.

Drought has severely impacted the ferrets' prey, prairie dogs, leading to a collapse in their numbers as well.