The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has an**unced plans to test out a program that would use unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to shoot vaccine-covered candy into the black-footed ferret's habitat in Montana. The goal of this scheme is to help i**culate the animal against sylvatic plague — a disease that can decimate black-footed ferret populations.*
The vaccination effort is designed to indirectly benefit the ferrets by specifically targeting prairie dog populations, which are also susceptible to the plague. Black-footed ferrets depend on prairie dogs for food and shelter. Read more...