Endangered Species: The Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis

The Pygmy Rabbit

(Brachylagus idahoensis)

Endangered Species in Washington

Needs to Survive / Location on the Food Chain / Habitat and Ecosystem

Lives In

Areas of tall, dense sagebush in the states of California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington

• The pygmy rabbit's entire existence and survival is centered around one plant: the sagebush. During the winter, the sagebush comprises 99 percent of the pygmy rabbit's diet. The pygmy rabbit relies on the sagebush for both food and shelter. For raising young, the pygmy rabbit makes nests inside burrows under loose soils of wind-borne or water-borne origin. The primary necessity for the pygmy rabbit's survival is areas of tall, dense sagebush with accessible soil.
• Pygmy rabbits are placed very low on the food chain. As herbivores, the pygmy rabbits are placed above only plants on the food chain. Their predators include weasels, coyotes, badgers, bobcats, raptors, owls, ravens, crows, and foxes. The pygmy rabbit's predators are the prey of even more substantial and large predators. Therefore, a primary reason for pygmy rabbits' endangerment is their low position on the food chain.
• The habitat of the pygmy rabbit is areas of tall, dense sagebush in the states of California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington. Pygmy rabbits are endangered in the state of Washington. The pygmy rabbit's ecosystem affects it in that the sagebush is the pygmy rabbit's main food source, and the pygmy rabbit undergoes predation by weasels, coyotes, badgers, bobcats, raptors, owls, ravens, crows, and foxes. Another natural circumstance in the ecosystem affecting the pygmy rabbit is forest fires.

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Lagomorpha

Family: Leporidae

Genus: Brachylagus

Species: idahoensis

What Can be Done to Increase the Pygmy Rabbit Population / Plan to Save the Pygmy Rabbit

Closest Relative

• Sumatran Rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri)
• Pygmy rabbits and Sumatran rabbits only share primitive characteristics
• The pygmy rabbit is the only surviving member of a primitive lineage, diverging from other rabbits near the beginning of the evolution of leproids.
• The pygmy rabbit is one of the two most primitive living leproids, making it phylogenetivally unique.

• One thing that can be done to increase the population of pygmy rabbits in Washington would be to provide them with an expanded habitat. Expanding the pygmy rabbits' habitat will provide them with increased protection and a larger food source. This would also allow for an increased area for pygmy rabbits to breed and raise their young. Another thing that can be done would be to decrease the number of predators in their area. Decreasing the pygmy rabbits' predators will take away the primary limit on their lifespan and allow them to live longer.
• My plan to save the pygmy rabbits in Washington would be to create a national park in Washington where sagebush can freely grow without the interruption of agriculture and industrial activity. In this national park, weasels, coyotes, badgers, bobcats, raptors, owls, ravens, crows, and foxes (pygmy rabbits' predators) would be relocated to an area where they would not be a threat to the pygmy rabbits. This way, both the pygmy rabbits and their predators could live in peace, and the national park could be a tourist attraction that generates revenue rather than air-polluting oil and gas industries. The pygmy rabbits would then be able to survive, reproduce, and develop an increased lifespan.

Photos

Other Agencies Helping to Protect the Pygmy Rabbit / Sources

Causes of Endangerment

• Conversion of sagebush rangeland to agriculture
• Industrialization (Oil and Gas Production)
• Wildfire Frequency in some areas
• Predation by weasels, coyotes, badgers, bobcats, raptors, owls, ravens, crows, and foxes

• Agencies in support of the pygmy rabbit as an endangered species include the Committee of the High Desert, Western Watersheds Project, American Lands Alliance, Oregon Natural Desert Association, Bio Diversity Conservation Alliance, and Center for Native Ecosystems. These entities created a petition requesting that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list the pygmy rabbit as an endangered species. The Fish and Wildlife Service did not grant this request, but the pygmy rabbit is now recognized as an endangered species in Washington.
• www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/wildlife/animal-assessments.Par.99787.File.dat/PygmyRabbit.pdf
• www.fws.gov/nevada/nv_species/pygmy_rabbit.html
• greatbasin.wr.usgs.gov/docs/pyra_oliver_rpt2004.pdf
• http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FWS-R8-ES-2007-0022-0335