The black-footed ferret was declared extinct in 1979, then dramatically rediscovered in Meeteetse, Wyoming in 1981 when a ranch dog brought one home dead. By 1993, a captive breeding program run by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had pulled the species back from complete oblivion, with reintroduction into the wild only just beginning. The BVI's involvement is purely commercial — the islands issued dozens of wildlife conservation-themed crowns through the early 1990s under licensing arrangements with the Pobjoy Mint, none of which circulated in any meaningful sense.
The black-footed ferret was declared extinct in 1979, then dramatically rediscovered in Meeteetse, Wyoming in 1981 when a ranch dog brought one home dead. By 1993, a captive breeding program run by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had pulled the species back from complete oblivion, with reintroduction into the wild only just beginning. The BVI's involvement is purely commercial — the islands issued dozens of wildlife conservation-themed crowns through the early 1990s under licensing arrangements with the Pobjoy Mint, none of which circulated in any meaningful sense.