Endangered ferrets in more jeopardy as government shutdown drags on, wildlife expert warns

Of all the communities across America impacted by the government shutdown , the population of endangered black-footed ferrets may be among the smallest and most vulnerable.

This rare species, safeguarded under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, teeters on the brink of extinction, with about 300 existing in the wild.

Now, with biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service furloughed because of the shutdown, a critical release of 400 captive-bred ferrets, designed to strengthen their wild populations, is in jeopardy.

"It just really makes us all very nervous," said Chamois Andersen, a senior leader at Defenders of Wildlife, a key non-profit partner on the federal agency's Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Plan . "It's not something we can play around with, in terms of