Pygmy rabbits and arboreal activity documented
Photo: A pygmy rabbit climbs a sagebrush. This image was captured on a trail camera as part of on-going survey efforts to document occupancy of North America’s smallest rabbit and the only arboreal rabbit species in the world.
ODFW's East Region Conservation Biologist and field staff continue their pygmy rabbit research in Oregon's sagebrush country and in 2022 they expanded their efforts into Lake County. During recent field work, technicians were able to document arboreal activity by a pygmy rabbit. They will climb sagebrush to forage green leaves, but this activity is rarely seen in the field or documented with a photograph!
Pygmy rabbits are a state Sensitive Species and a Conservation Strategy Species that ODFW biologists are working to learn more about. If you see a pygmy rabbit or tracks or signs of a pygmy rabbit while out exploring Oregon, take a picture, post it to iNaturalist, and be sure to share it with ODFW’s project Oregon Wildlife Conservation (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/oregon-wildlife-conservation). This ensures that your observations can contribute to conservation efforts for this unique species.
And if you'd like to learn more about pygmy rabbit research, be sure to watch our short video.
Scientists are trying to better understand pygmy rabbit distribution and abundance in sagebrush country as well as population dynamics and the effects of fragmented habitat. Roads and other development can impact pygmy rabbit movement across the landscape.
Pygmy rabbits use tall, dense clumps of basin big sagebrush where they find deep, loose soils for digging burrows near native grasses for summer forage. Habitat loss is a major issue for long-term survival of the species. Pygmy rabbit in Oregon are patchily distributed and susceptible to local declines caused by wildfire for example. Data from ongoing research may help manage pygmy rabbit and conserve Great Basin big sagebrush habitat.
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