WYOMING – On Wednesday, Jan. 24, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced its determination that the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) could warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The decision came as a result of a petition submitted by conservation groups in March 2023. The 90-day finding triggers a review by the FWS to evaluate if the pygmy rabbit warrants protections under the Endangered Species Act.
Within the past 50 years, populations of the once-common pygmy rabbits have progressively dwindled, according to state surveys. In Wyoming their population has declined by 69% to just 15% occupancy. The current range of the pygmy rabbit encompasses parts of Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, California and Oregon.
According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, pygmy rabbits are the smallest rabbit species in Wyoming. Found in southwestern Wyoming, this rabbit relies on dense, tall sagebrush for up to 99% of its diet in winter and up to 50% of its diet in summer. The tiny one-pound rabbits are the only rabbit species to dig their own burrows. In winter, they tunnel through the snow.
Livestock grazing, oil and gas extraction, invasive non-native grasses and wildfire have contributed to habitat fragmentation. Being too timid to cross roads and too exposed to cross disturbed sage brush without predation, these small mammals need remaining sage-steppe preserved to ensure contiguous pygmy rabbit habitat.
“This is a great first step toward protecting the tiny but mighty pygmy rabbit and the habitat it needs to survive,” Public Land Policy Director at the Center for Biological Diversity Randi Spivak said via press release. “The once vast sagebrush sea ecosystem is facing a triple whammy of accelerated climate change, agriculture and industrial development. Endangered Species Act protection is desperately and urgently needed to save these wondrous little creatures.”
According to the Wyoming Species Account, pygmy rabbits were petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2003. In September 2010, the Fish and Wildlife Service found that the rabbits were not warranted for listing.
