Habitat of the Pygmy Rabbit

The pygmy rabbit, a native species to North America, is the smallest United States rabbit. Weighing only 1 pound, they are small enough to fit comfortably in an adult's palm. These rabbits, who closely resemble young cottontail rabbits, make their home in the Western United States around the Great Basin. However, some environmentalists and wildlife protection service agents believe that the pygmy rabbit is threatened due to habitat loss. They are heavily dependent on dense sagebrush growth, a feature in Western states that is not as abundant as it once was.

  1. Type of Habitat

    • Pygmy rabbits live in areas that have an abundance of thick, tall sagebrush. The sagebrush not only provides a measure of shelter and protection from predators, but also makes up a huge portion of the pygmy rabbit's diet. Another environmental requirement for a suitable pygmy rabbit habitat is loose soil, to allow these animals to tunnel deep under the surface. They are one of the only types of rabbit in North America to dig holes and burrows, which are also used by other animals. Because of soil deposition, topography can provide clues to pinpoint precisely where a pygmy rabbit population may be living. Old riverbeds, sloping hills and the base of clusters of sagebrush are all likely habitats.

    Geographic Location

    • Pygmy rabbits are native to North America. They can be found in the Western United States around the Great Basin region. Specifically, these animals are found in Washington, Utah, Wyoming and California, with small and scattered populations existing in areas of Nevada, Oregon and Montana. Only the state of Washington has listed the rabbits endangered.

    Environmental Damage and Loss of Habitat

    • Losses of significant amounts of sagebrush has greatly hurt the pygmy rabbit. The plant is an essential part of the rabbits' survival as it provides food, shelter and protection. The loss of sagebrush on a large scale across the Great Basin region, and the consequential damage done to the environment, has been caused by wildfires, livestock grazing, energy development and other human industries. These activities have caused a fragmentation in pygmy rabbit populations, which has made it even more difficult for the species to recover from the sagebrush loss. Once separated, large populations are not likely to reunite, as these rabbits do not travel more than a couple hundred feet from their burrows. Where once the pygmy rabbit populations covered about 100 million acres across the West, they now occupy about 8 million acres.

    Conservation Efforts

    • The plight of the pygmy rabbit, due to destruction and loss of habitat, is becoming more widely known in the U.S. Groups in the western regions where the rabbits live are making efforts to find suitable land for habitats. Their goal is to cultivate and maintain both sagebrush and the species in those areas. The Fish &Wildlife Service has been petitioned on several occasions, beginning in 2003 and as recently as 2010, to list the pygmy rabbit as an endangered species and provide it the necessary protections. However, the FWS has consistently rejected the appeal even after environmental advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the agency. The government service stated that while the rabbit's habitat has been damaged across an entire region, the survival of the species is not under immediate threat. Only a strain of the rabbit, found in Washington, is listed as endangered.