This story was updated at 3:25 p.m. EDT.
A deadly bacterial disease has resurfaced among prairie dogs in South Dakota, causing die-offs in Badlands National Park, Buffalo Gap National Grassland and the greater Badlands region.
While federal officials say the risk to humans is low, the highly infectious and historically dreaded plague has a horrific track record among both people and prairie animals. The disease was last detected in South Dakota’s Conata Basin in 2009, when it was held responsible for the loss of more than 80 percent of the remaining population of black-footed ferrets.
“We are concerned about the impacts to the black-footed ferret population and are taking necessary action to protect this important keystone species,” Eric Veach, superintendent of Badlands National Park, said in a statement Wednesday.
