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US govt uses drone-fired peanut butter pellets to save endangered Ferrets
The population of both ferrets and prairie dogs suffered major decline due to disease, shooting and habitat loss.
New Delhi: The United States government has decided to use drone technology for saving the endangered black-footed Ferrets, the only ones native to America.
The US Fish and Wildlife service has decided to bombarded peanut-butter vaccine pellets in the ferret habitat regions of north-eastern Montana.
The decision was taken in order to prevent the species from Sylvatic plague.It's a flea-borne disease that are most commonly found in Prairie dog colonies, the primary source of food and habitat of black footed ferrets. Prior to this, officials were using manual insecticide spraying method to kill the plague fleas.
The population of both ferrets and prairie dogs suffered major decline due to disease, shooting and habitat loss. Currently only 300 black-footed ferrets are found in US across a handful of isolated sites.
The species was briefly thought to be extinct in 1981, only for a number of animals to be brought into captivity for breeding. The current population originates from just seven ferrets that were selectively bred, according to The Guardian.