Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit

Written by Lena Choi

These pygmy rabbits are the smallest rabbits in North America, ranging from 9.25 to 11.65 inches and weighing less than a pound. These rabbits live up to 3 to 5 years, but often their life is cut short due to predation. They have the ability to hop up to 15 miles per hour and are the only rabbits in the United States known to dig their own burrows. Active year-round, they are able to endure temperatures below zero to more than 100 degrees fahrenheit. Unlike other rabbits, these pygmy rabbits have a shorter breeding season, producing around three litters of up to six kits each year.

Habitat

These pygmy rabbits live in a tall, dense sagebrush habitat. They depend on sagebrush for food and shelter; 99 percent of their diet consists of the leaves from the sagebrush during the winter. During the European settlement era, the sagebrush was abundant, but that has declined more than 30 percent because farmers, developers, and ranchers planted non-native plants, such as cheatgrass, which has completely overrun the sagebrush. The pygmy rabbits historically range in portions of California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington.

Listing

The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit was listed an endangered species in the state of Washington under the ESA in 2003. Along with the habitat loss from agricultural developments and wildfires, predation, demographic limitation, and diseases/decrease in genetic diversity contributed to the decline of the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits. Common predators of these pygmy rabbits are weasels, coyotes, raptors, badgers, ravens, owls, foxes, and bobcats.

The pygmy rabbit is listed endangered only in state of Washington because of the demographic limitation, and thus leading to disease and lack of genetic diversity. The pygmy rabbits in Washington are geographically isolated from the other populations of the pygmy rabbits . This causes problems of inbreeding, such as weakened immune systems and bone deformities, leading to diseases.

Recovery Plan

To decrease the amount of inbreeding, the recovery plan consists of bringing pygmy rabbits from outside of Washington and reintroducing them into the Columbia Basin population. As for resolving the habitat loss and destruction, the plan states to survey areas that have the highest potential to be inhabited by the pygmy rabbits and contacting landowners and managers with lands of high priority to pursue conservation agreements. For more details on the recovery plan, please check out http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Columbia%20Basin%20Pygmy%20Rabbit%20Final%20RP.pdf

Personal Action

The easiest way to help out is to spread the word and raise awareness about these pygmy rabbits. Another way to get involved is to become informed about any construction of roads or buildings that may be detrimental to the habitat of these rabbits, and to use your voice to prevent the destruction of these rabbits’ habitat.

Sources

http://media.spokesman.com/photos/2015/06/10/Pygmy_rabbit_6-15_252_t1140.JPG?abf36d44fcda22a1f7041162086f31df6a374511
http://www.oregonzoo.org/sites/default/files/gallery/images/H_orig_columbia_basin_pygmy_rabbit_nature_gal.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRW8iZXMwMA
http://www.fws.gov/nevada/nv_species/pygmy_rabbit.html
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Columbia%20Basin%20Pygmy%20Rabbit%20Final%20RP.pdf
http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2013/Return-of-the-Mighty-Pygmy-Rabbit.aspx
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/pygmy_rabbit/