Ord's Kangaroo Rat - Wildlife Preservation Canada

Habitat

Ord’s kangaroo rats require open, sparsely vegetated, sandy habitats that make it easy to hop and to dig extensive burrows. Natural habitats consist of actively eroding sand dunes, sand flats and sandy slopes of valleys in sand hill areas. Kangaroo rats also use sandy areas where the soil is disturbed by human activity, like roads.

Range

Ord’s kangaroo rat is widely distributed in the interior arid grasslands and deserts of western North America, from Canada’s southern prairies to central Mexico. The isolated Canadian population occupies a small area in southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta. Their numbers fluctuate greatly over the course of the year, thanks to the large number of pups born each summer, followed by high death rates over the winter. During the seasonal low-point in early spring, the Canadian population ranges between 545 and 1,040.

Threats

The primary cause of this animal’s decline is the fragmentation of habitat that occurred when native prairie was converted to cropland during the past century. While high-quality habitat still exists, much of it consists of isolated patches that can support only relatively small populations. These patches are spread too far apart for kangaroo rats to travel from one to another. With no influx of other kangaroo rats to counter the effects of disease, poor reproductive years or inbreeding, these isolated sub-populations are expected to disappear over time. On top of that, Ord’s kangaroo rats are attracted to roadside environments, which studies have shown to be a deathtrap for them.

Recovery

Recommended Recovery Actions

The federal Recovery Strategy for Ord’s kangaroo rat calls for a number of conservation measures, including determining the most effective method for translocating kangaroo rats to suitable habitat, assessing the degree of isolation among populations and destabilizing sand dunes to create the habitat this species needs.

What we are doing

Find out what Wildlife Preservation Canada has done to help Canadian mammals, including the Ord’s kangaroo rat, and how you can make a difference.

Visit the project page

Ord’s Kangaroo Rat

Dipodomys ordii

Ord’s Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ordii)