The Cranial Morphology of the Black-Footed Ferret: A Comparison of Wild and Captive Specimens.

The black-footed ferret (), a North American mustelid species, was once found abundantly throughout the Midwest until the extreme decline in prairie dogs ( spp.), the black-footed ferret's primary food source, brought the species to near-extinction. Subsequently, the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Program was created in the 1980s with a goal of bringing all remaining individuals of the species into captivity in order to breed the species back to a sustainable population level for successful reintroduction into the wild.

Oral health correlates of captivity.

The predominant diet fed to captive carnivores in North America consists of ground meat formulated to provide full nutritional requirements. However, this ground meat diet completely lacks the mechanical properties (i.e.