What is the cost of the black footed ferret conservation?

Answer 1

Federal and state agencies have spent over $12 million on the original 18 Meeteetse ferrets and their progeny, and the associated recovery and transplant efforts (Gober, 1995). When calculated in terms of ferrets grown for release, this comes to a cost of almost $40,000 for every ferret returned to the wild. When calculated in terms of surviving ferrets, the cost skyrockets to $600,000 to $1.5 million for every captive-bred ferret that still roams the prairies of Shirley Basin, the CMR, and the Badlands National Park. Clearly, the ferret cannot be saved without spending money. But the costs today are excessive, particularly given the near-certain budget cuts facing the Fish & Wildlife Service and its cooperating federal agencies. Even the more modest cost-estimate of $5,000 for every current and future captive-bred ferret is excessive (Clark, 1995a, Gober, 1995, Hinckley, 1995, and Thorne, 1995b). Such amounts are draining the financial resources of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and straining the budgetary capabilities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Recovery is simply not working: The black-footed ferret remains perched on the edge of extinction, seemingly fated to become little other than a zoological curiosity.

(Source: ti.org/bffhess.html)