Smallest American Rabbit Gets No Legal Protection

The pygmy rabbit will not be listed under the Endangered Species Act for protection in California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana said US Fish and Wildlife officials. A very small population of the tiny rabbits is legally protected as endangered in Washington state. This group of rabbits would have perished, but conservationists intervened and captured them for a captive breeding program. But there were so few, they had to be crossbred with pygmy rabbits from Idaho. Genetically pure Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits did go extinct. (The protected Washington population is a hybrid rabbit.)

The reason they were driven into extinction is that too much of their habitat had been converted into agricultural lands, and their numbers gradually declined to the point of no return. Sagebrush makes up the majority of the rabbit’s diet and much of the land with sagebrush has been taken over. In winter, they eat 98 percent sagebrush. (Source: University of Michigan) (The Gunnison Grouse was also recently denied protection, and it too depends upon habitat with sagebrush.)

The remaining pygmy rabbits (outside of Washington state) have been denied status as endangered. Apparently not much is known about pygmy rabbits. Even the US Fish and Wildlife Service said this in their recent press release, “We ask that any new information concerning the status of species or threats to it be submitted to us, at any time, to assist in monitoring the species and conservation efforts.” (Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service) In their press release no population numbers were provided for wild pygmy rabbits. Wildlife biologist Erik Molvar said, “…no question pygmies face severe threats throughout their range.” (Source: Reuters.com)

The rabbit was under review for endangerment status because population declines due to their sagebrush habitat converted to agricultural purposes, livestock grazing, urban and rural development, energy development, invasive plant species, and fires.

If the larger population of pygmy rabbits continues to decline, they may face a situation similar to the tragedy in Washington. Ivan Oranksy, in Scientific American wrote, “Isolation, and the resulting dwindling numbers, severely damaged the pygmy rabbits’ gene pool, making the animals prone to infection.”

A one-pound burrowing rabbit appears to be no match for a federal government influenced by agriculture, and oil and gas lobbyists. Also, it is not off limits to hunting. Field and Stream wrote a response to the denial of protection asking its readers if the rabbit is too cute to hunt. Predictably, the answer was no.

Image Credit: Washington State University

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

New G.

4:53PM PST on Jan 2, 2012

Thanks for the information. Hopefully this changes for the better.

send a green star

Teresa W.

10:28AM PDT on Oct 8, 2011

Well said, Angela.

very sad

Juanita G.

8:21PM PDT on Aug 11, 2011

All creatures should be protected. Even the Bible tells us that.

Shelly P.

1:44PM PDT on Apr 9, 2011

Jake!! We need petitions!!! Please!!!Thankyou!

colleen p.

5:35PM PDT on Apr 8, 2011

more people would care if this was a wolf. who's food are they growing on their habitat? it seems like it won't matter, but when it comes to fighting, a "rabbit homes destroyed for human food" is not the same as "rabbit habitat to grow crops to be feed to meat animals"

I'm not big on rabbits(indifferent) but they are important

Angela C.

2:33PM PDT on Mar 27, 2011

okay... I really hate uncompasionate human. They destroy other living being's home, make themselves comfortable and watch those poor lives die. I love rabbits. They're all so loving and cute. The moment you hug them you just got the impression that your worries are gone (at least for me...). Also, whenever I saw people devastating a forest because they're about to construct new homes, it just frustrate me. I mean, they got nothing to do or what? There's a lot of homes that are been sold by banks because of the mortgage or something...
Arrrrgh... but I'm just a student in a small hateful world, so what I say, people won't consider it important.... -___- just like my friends.

Bon L.

4:39AM PST on Mar 4, 2011

Thanks for the info.

Sara F.

7:22PM PST on Dec 4, 2010

Thats so mean! Please save the pygmy rabbit.

Danell A.

2:29AM PST on Nov 29, 2010

Thank you for sharing this sad story. If you know of any petition to help them please let us know. Thanks.