#pygmyrabbit

This week's Animal Spotlight is on the Pygmy Rabbit! They are the smallest rabbit species in North America and are identified by their short ears and tiny back legs. You can find these creatures hiding in tall sagebrush near water features.

The largest threat to the Pygmy Rabbit population is the degredation and destruction of their sagebrush habitats through fires, drought, and human development. In recent years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have made great efforts to conserve the Pygmy Rabbit population in the PNW. By constructing artifical pens that can be moved to safer locations, their long-term survival rate increased 8-10%, to a total of 40%, in 2021.

The pygmy rabbit once lived in a 100-million-acre historic range that spanned portions of 13 U.S. states. Today, it exists in only 10% of this range, and even surviving there is getting more difficult.