Blog Post 8: Pygmy Rabbits

Pygmy Rabbit is endangered here in Washington state, but not nation wide.  It is one of few rabbits that digs its own burrows, which is pretty impressive. It eats mostly sagebrush and lives in the soils nearby its favorite food. These rabbits are present all over the Western United States around the Columbia Basin and Great Basin. In the last 30 years, pygmy rabbits have had a loss of genetic diversity. This, of course, leads to a risk of extinction. Because of development and agriculture, their habitat (sagebrush) is being destroyed. Habitat changes and population decline has led these cuties being put on the endangered species list

            In 2011, state wildlife agencies put into an effect a plan to help these rabbits recuperate. The plan is to move wild pygmy rabbits to WA from other parts of the country to increase genetic diversity, breed the animals in a semi-wild place and free young pygmy rabbits of these new diverse genetics.  These recovery efforts gained some success and over 1,200 rabbits were released in Washington. Even with continuing efforts, pygmy rabbits will continue to be on the endangered list until their population increases in greater numbers.

            I chose pygmy rabbit mostly because rabbits are cute. I was surprised to learn that their main (99%) source of food is sage, making them a specialist. As we know, being a specialist makes you more prone to extinction. 

Sources: 

http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/pygmy_rabbit/

https://www.fws.gov/nevada/nv_species/pygmy_rabbit.html

http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/endangered/species/pygmy_rabbit.pdf