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 ...more ↓
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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Help us improve our conservation efforts by sharing your wildlife observations! The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is responsible for protecting and enhancing Oregon’s wildlife populations and their habitats. ODFW developed the Oregon Conservation Strategy with the goals of maintaining healthy ...more ↓
Help us improve our conservation efforts by sharing your wildlife observations! The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is responsible for protecting and enhancing Oregon’s wildlife populations and their habitats. ODFW developed the Oregon Conservation Strategy with the goals of maintaining healthy fish and wildlife populations by restoring functioning habitats and preventing or reversing declines of at-risk species.
It is not possible for ODFW to survey all wildlife species, we need your help to monitor their presence and distributions across the state. The Oregon Wildlife Conservation iNaturalist project was developed to collect wildlife observation data from community scientists like you on amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles across Oregon. While we are interested in all wildlife observations, we are particularly interested in your observations of the 109 wildlife Strategy Species, or species of greatest conservation need, and Strategy Data Gap Species. Strategy Species are species that have small or declining populations, are at-risk, and/or are of management concern.
The information gathered by the Oregon Wildlife Conservation iNaturalist project will augment ongoing research efforts, conservation actions, and management plans for sensitive wildlife species by ODFW and our partners. Your help is crucial for the successful conservation of Oregon’s wildlife species!
The Oregon Wildlife Conservation iNaturalist project is managed by the Conservation Strategy Coordinator, Andrea Hanson, and the Strategy Species Coordinator, Emily VanWyk. If you’re new to iNaturalist, you can find instructions on how to sign up and join the Oregon Wildlife Conservation project here. If you already have a iNaturalist account and need help on how to import your existing observations into our project, find detailed instructions here. less ↑
Oregon Wildlife Conservation
