Endangered Animals From Nebraska

The state of Nebraska is home to a variety of endangered wildlife, including mammal, insect, bird, fish and plant species. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission takes it responsibility to protect endangered wildlife, and the habitat of these species very seriously and has a number of initiatives in place to protect and reintroduce animals and plants back into their natural habitats.

  1. Black Footed Ferret

    • According to Blackfootedferret.org, as of 2010, the black-footed ferret is one of the most endangered mammals in the world. The black-footed ferret is a member of the mustelid family, which are musk-producing animals. Black-footed ferrets grow 18 to 24 inches in length and weigh between one and a half to two and a half pounds. The primary habitat of the black-footed ferret is prairie land. The black-footed ferret is at risk from loss of habitat and food source. This species is an omnivate carnivore, meaning that they only have one source of food, which is the prairie dog. Black-footed ferrets also use the burrows of the prairie dogs as shelter and to escape predators. Humans have historically culled prairie dog populations as agricultural pests, and so the population has steadily declined meaning that there is less available food for the ferret. Black-footed ferrets are also very prone to contracting canine distemper and sylvatic plague. Sylvatic plague was a disease introduced to the ferrets habitat by man, and is transmitted by fleas. Sylvatic plague is similar to the bubonic plague which decimated large numbers of the human population during the middle ages.

    Swift Fox

    • The swift fox is only found in pockets of the Great Plains regions of the United States, although historically the number of this species was large and it could be found in the Canadian grasslands as well as in the US between Mexico and North Dakota. The swift fox is one of the smallest fox species in the world, measuring only 12 inches high.. It is also one of the fastest fox species, reaching speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. Trapping, habitat destruction and strychnine poisoning are believed to be the biggest threats facing these small hunters.

    Eskimo Curlew

    • The Eskimo Curlew is a very elusive bird, and as of 2010, it's population size is not known, although is thought to be less than 100 individuals. It is not known if any Eskimo curlews actually survive. As of August 2010, the last confirmed sighting of this critically endangered bird was in 1962 and the last unconfirmed sighting in 1992. Over-hunting is the largest reason for the dramatic decrease in numbers. After the disappearance of the passenger pigeon, the eskimo curlew became the fashionable game bird, with the Northwest Territories Department of Environment and Natural Resources estimates that during the late 1800s two million eskimo curlews were killed every single year.