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Saving a species
By DAN ENGLAND
Greeley (Colo.) Tribune Tuesday, February 22, 2005
LAPORTE, Colo. -- When Dean Biggins was only 5, he brought his mother a
black
widow in a jar.
His mother, Lee, sighed and released the spider, just as she did with
all the
frogs, snakes and dozens of other creatures her son had to show her. He
even
brought home a jar full of mosquito larvae he thought were fish.
Usually boys will shift their interest to girls or cars or bad rock
bands as
they get older, but not Biggins.
"I'm afraid I never outgrew that," Biggins said.
Biggins, now a 58-year-old married father of two, never outgrew his
interest
in wildlife. He used snowmobiles to study elk while earning his
master's
degree at the University of Montana. He went on to earn a doctorate and
chose a
career studying a much smaller animal: the endangered black-footed
ferret.
Although he would have enjoyed any career working with animals, it's
doubtful
it would have been as important. Biggins, a wildlife research biologist
with
the U.S. Geological Survey, is often credited with helping ensure the
ferret's
continued existence.
Biggins knew he wanted to be a biologist when he was in elementary
school. He
would walk with his mother and talk about all the things they would see
along
the way while growing up in Alaska and California. When he wasn't
taking
nature walks with his mom, he was fishing and exploring.
"It really was born in him," said his mom.
Biggins found his calling in 1981, when 46 adult ferrets were
discovered in
Meeteetse, Wyo. Biologists believed the ferrets were extinct. When the
small
population was discovered, Biggins was tapped for the project of making
sure
they didn't fade away again.
He had worked with a well-known ferret expert in the late 1970s to
develop
radio transmitters to study ferrets in the wild. He also helped develop
radio
technology to assist him with his elk studies. Biggins became known as
the
"ferret transmitter guy," so scientists called him in when the
black-footed ferrets
were discovered.
Biggins was thrilled.
"It was really intriguing in the sense that here's a fascinating animal
that
we don't know much about," he said. "We don't understand them at all
because
they are nocturnal and extremely rare. It was up to us to figure the
animal
out."
Biggins first traveled to China several times to study the Siberian
polecat,
the black-footed ferret's closest cousin. But in 1985, four years after
their
discovery, the ferrets were in danger of disappearing again because of
distemper and plague.
Biologists knew they had to take drastic measures. They began capturing
the
ferrets for breeding, but the plan was so controversial one biologist
backed
out and in some ways attempted to block the program.
"We had that nagging at us, that these really were the last of this
animal,"
Biggins said. "We didn't know if we would be contributing to their
extinction
or their salvation. It was one of the most depressing times of my
life."
He needed some help. What he didn't know was salvation would come from
the
ferrets themselves, especially an overactive male that they nicknamed
Scarface.
In the winter of 1985, biologists started capturing the ferrets. The
program
didn't appear promising until summer, when the biologists went back to
the
Wyoming site. They discovered the original den had grown to 18, thanks
to a busy
male.
"We brought him in, and he bred like crazy," Biggins said. "He made a
huge
difference."
So much of a difference, in fact, that in the early 1990s, biologists
wanted
to minimize his contribution so the entire black-footed population
wasn't a
bunch of little Scarfaces. By that time, things were much more
comfortable with
several breeding populations in Wyoming and at zoos in Omaha, Neb., and
Virginia.
The captive population is now 250, though it's hardly thriving. Wild
ferret
populations are continually fluctuating, and Biggins believes chronic
plague
has something to do with it. Black-footed ferrets are dependent on
prairie dogs
for food and their burrows, yet prairie dog colonies also attract
plague.
"Ferrets are about as specialized a carnivore as we have in the U.S.,"
he
said.
While plague wipes out colonies, the ferrets seem to have just enough
resistance to it for it to be a chronic problem, such as cancer in
humans. It's just
that the margin of error is much thinner for ferrets.
Biggins is now leading a study on plague, just as he led dozens of
studies
that helped scientists rescue the population. Late last year, he was
recognized
for his work with the ferrets when he was given the Denver Zoological
Foundation Conservation Award.
His biggest reward, however, is in South Dakota, where a thriving,
plague-free population lives on some grassland. There are more than 150
adults, and more
than 100 litters are born each year, Biggins estimated.
Scientists are taking ferrets from that den and transporting them to
dens in
Utah, Colorado and Montana. Studies have shown transported wild ferrets
have a
greater chance to survive than those bred in captivity.
"I just feel like I've been extremely fortunate," Biggins said. "That's
very
rewarding to make a difference. That's just an extra reward placed on
top of a
very satisfying career."
http://www.casperstartribune.net/ne...7256faf0052188c
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