Black-Footed Ferret Kits: National Zoo Seeks Help In Naming Them

WASHINGTON, DC — The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is asking the public to help name three black-footed ferret kits — one female and two males — born May 19 at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal.

The births were streamed live on the Zoo’s Black-Footed Ferret Webcam, and virtual viewers have been watching the kits grow ever since. The institute has selected nine potential names that reflect black-footed ferrets’ significance as a distinctly North American species.

The public will have the opportunity to vote for three names through Sunday, July 25, across three platforms.

“This September marks the 40th anniversary of the discovery of a small population of black-footed ferrets, whom we thought were extinct at that time,” said Will Pitt, deputy director of Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and acting deputy director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. “I am thrilled we can honor this milestone and success by inviting our fans to help name Potpie’s kits.”

There are three possible name choices for each kit. Voting to name the female kit will be hosted on the National Zoo’s website. One male kit will be named by current Smithsonian’s National Zoo members via an e-newsletter poll and the other male will be named by players of the Zoo’s educational mobile game, Zoo Guardians.

Zoo Guardians is free to download on Apple and Android devices; players can find the poll to vote in their game’s mailbox. The winning names will be announced July 27.

The name choices for the female kit are:

• Americana: Many prairie species’ scientific names include americana
• Aster: A purple flower native to the American prairie
• Prairie Rose: A species of rose native to central North America

The name choices for the male kit named by Smithsonian’s National Zoo members are:

• Albus: In honor of the pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhychus albus), an endangered fish
• Cupido: In honor of the greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido)
• Swifty: In honor of the swift fox

The name for the male kit named by Zoo Guardians players are:

• Aspen: Short for “quaking aspen”—a plant native to the American prairie
• Cottonwood: A plant native to the American prairie
• Falco: In honor of the prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus)

The kits were born to third-time mother, 3-year-old Potpie and sired by 1-year-old father, Daly. Staff have been closely monitoring Potpie and her kits via the webcam and conduct weekly weight checks on the kits to ensure they are healthy and making good gains.

As the black-footed ferret kits grow, they will spend more time outside the den. A second webcam launched July 8, showing their main enclosure. The public can follow the Zoo’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on the kits’ milestones.

Around four months old, the kits will separate from their mother. In August, the Black-Footed Ferret Species Survival Plan will conduct a genetic assessment of the entire population managed in human care.

This assessment will determine whether the kits remain at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, are transferred to another breeding facility or join the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service preconditioning program in preparation for their release into the wild. The preconditioning program allows ferrets to learn to live in burrows and demonstrate that they can successfully catch prey before being reintroduced to the wild.

Black-footed ferrets once ranged across the western plains but were thought to be extinct until a small colony was discovered Sept. 26, 1981, near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Eighteen black-footed ferrets were brought into human care by the .S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to prevent the species from going extinct.

To vote for the names of the three black-footed ferret kits, visit the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute website.