The Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit

The Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit

(Brachylagus idahoensis)

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 By: Grace Leung

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The Pygmy Rabbits are the world’s smallest Leporid, known for its small size, short ears, and small hind legs. It can rest comfortably in the palm of a hand and only weighs roughly one pound. Pygmy Rabbits often have gray fur, but their fur could range from brown to dark gray. That the Pygmy Rabbits obtain different vocalizations such as squeals, squeaks, and chuckles. Most male Pygmy Rabbits communicate through body signals as well. They often squeal when they are alarmed. The female Pygmy Rabbits are typically 1%-10% larger in size than males. Being the only rabbit species in North America to dig their own burrows, they create a system below grounds between food plants. They like to scurry close to the ground and typically don’t leap.

                                                                                      Where are they located?

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The Pygmy Rabbits are located in Western United States; which includes Washington, South Western Montana, East to Southern Idaho, Southern Oregon, and South to Northern Utah. Pygmy Rabbits exist in subpopulations, they are scattered in many different regions. In 1993, there was an estimated of 588 active burrows in Sagebrush Flat Wildlife Area in Douglas County that only supported approximately 150 Pygmy Rabbits. The number of Pygmy Rabbits continue to decline throughout the years. In 2001, it was reported that less than 30 Pygmy Rabbits remained in the state of Washington. 

Did you know...

In 1990, the state of Washington state listed the Pygmy Rabbit as a threatened species because of the declines in distribution and population size. Pygmy Rabbits were then reclassified as endangered in 1993. The Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit was then federally listed as an endangered species in March of 2003.

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What caused it to become endangered?

Pygmy Rabbits are extremely dependent on sagebrushes for food and shelter. One of the main reasons would be because of habitat loss due to conversion of sagebrush range-land to agriculture, and development for oil and gas production. Sagebrushes burn easily and it is slow to recover from fires. Mortality by predators is also a threat to its existence; predators include weasels, coyote, badgers, bobcats, foxes, and etc. A disease called Mycobacteriosis is common within adult Pygmy Rabbits, while another disease called Coccidiosis is common throughout the young. Coccidiosis is a disease caused by the Coccidea parasite which affects the Pygmy Rabbit’s intestines. 

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So what's the plan?

The recovery plan aims to restore Pygmy Rabbit subpopulations in areas where they used to reside in. The plan initiated with a captive breeding program of 16 Pygmy Rabbits. Captive breeding of Pygmy Rabbits was proved to be difficult when three rabbits died prior to the birth of a litter of five. This leaves the program with ten female and eight male rabbits. Captive efforts expanded to the Oregon Zoo and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in order to diminish the risk of losing the entire captive population. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife took measures as to intercross Columbia Basin Pygmy rabbits with Idaho Pygmy Rabbits in order to improve their physiological and genetic outlook. The 2003 breeding season showed that the intercross breeding of the two helped improve the Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit’s low genetic variability. By 2006, the program have successfully bred about one hundred rabbits. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife released twenty inter-crossed rabbits into a Sagebrush Flat Site, and it resulted in high mortality rates. The trial and error with this release attempt provided them with a lot of important information such as the movement patterns, timing of release, use of habitat, predation, and their winter survival rates. Since then, more and more rabbits are being released back into the wild with additional protective measures such as small holding pens and supplemental foods. 

You can help too!

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The Pygmy Rabbit feeds on sagebrushes and the Pygmy Rabbit population will show a significant amount of recovery if we recover the sagebrushes!  National Wildlife Refuge Association is currently working to enhance and protect sagebrushes and other landscapes across the country. You could simply make a donation to NWRA at refugeassociation.org OR you could join NWRA’s Action Team and receive alerts about the pending legislation in Congress and be able to express your own opinions to congressmen. You could sign up for the Action Team through the link as well. 

Works Cited:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2012. Recovery Plan for the Columbia Basin Distinct Population Segment of the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). Portland, Oregon. ix + 109 pp.

Rohde, Ashley. 2006. "Brachylagus idahoensis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. 17 November 2015. Web. 20 November 2015.

Bolen, Anne. Return of the Mighty Pygmy Rabbit. National Wildlife Federation. 11 March 2013. Web. 20 November 2015.

Beauvais, G.P., Sequin, E., Rachlow, J., Dixon, R., Bosworth, B., Kozlowski, A., Carey, C., Bartels, P., Obradovitch, M., Forbes, T. & Hays, D. 2008. Brachylagus idahoensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T2963A9507224.http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T2963A9507224.en. Web. 21 November 2015.

Pygmy Rabbits. Western Watersheds Project.Web. 21 November 2015. <http://www.westernwatersheds.org/issues/species/pygmy-rabbits/>