Taylor Chaplin's Utah Prairie Dog Blog

Utah Prairie Dog

(cynomys parvidens)

Taylor Chaplin BIO 227

https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/news/images/UPD_1.jpg

Notice the Unique Eye Features

Description          

The Utah Prairie Dog happens to be the smallest species of prairie dogs.  Even though it is called a dog, it’s actually a ground-dwelling rodent in the family of Sciuridae, which squirrels, marmots, and chipmunks are also a part of. The Utah Prairie Dog has very small ears and a short tail.  They have unique fur, including shades of brown and tan, with white and black patches as well. They typically have a light brown back, a white to tan stomach, and white on their inner tail.  Their distinguishing features are dark brown patches under their eyes and black lines above the eyes.  Adult males tend to weigh between 1.7 to 3.1 pounds, while adult females only weigh from 1.4 to 2.5 pounds.  Adults can range from 9.8 to 15.7 inches in length, which includes their 1.2 to 2.6-inch-long tail.

Ecology

The Nature Conservancy

The Utah Prairie Dog is typically located in southern Utah counties like Beaver, Iron, Piute, Garfield, Wayne, Sevier, and Kane.  They live on prairies, or grasslands, because they need well-drained soil in order to burrow at least 15 feet underground.  By burrowing so far deep underground, they are able to protect themselves from predators and harsh weather conditions.  Some believe that this species hibernates during the harsh winter months because they spend 4-6 months underground.  Others believe they enter torpor at the beginning of this season and will reappear above ground in mild weather.  During each year, about 97% of females are in breeding condition and successfully produce a litter.  Each litter contains between 1 to 7 pups that stay in their nursery burrow for about 6 weeks.  If the pup survives its first year, it can live up to eight years.  This is an herbivorous species that occasionally eats insects, but prefers grasses, flowers, and seeds.  They choose habitats with a low vegetation height so they are able to scan for predators.

Geographic & Population Changes
This species was distributed in portions of southern counties of Utah.  They may have been separated in 700 sections (each section is equivalent to 1 mile-squared) in 10 areas of southwestern Utah.  There were about 95,000 animals distributed between these areas, but there is no real survey data to prove that this information is 100% correct. This species currently exists only in the central and southwestern quarter of Utah in recovery units.  This species was wiped out from major portions of its historical range, by the early 1970s.  Unfortunately, only about 3,300 individuals among 37 colonies remained.  For the past 30 years, the population rate has been stable to increasing, despite the environmental and human factors that cause fluctuation.

         

Historic Range Map

Current Range Map (Recovery Unit Boundaries)
              

Listing

On June 4, 1973, the Utah Prairie Dog was listed as an endangered species.  This listing was due to habitat destruction and modification, over-exploitation, disease, and predation.  On May 29, 1984, this species was reclassified as threatened, since populations increased in portions of their range.  The main threats to its continued existence include:

1. Habitat Loss & Fragmentation- due to urban development, agriculture, over-grazing
2. Plague- epizootic and enzootic plague outbreaks caused by the bacterium Yersinia & fleas
3. Climate Change- causes species migration towards higher elevation, which reduces species diversity
4. Unauthorized Take- poaching (shooting, poisoning, trapping, etc), research purposes, etc.
5. Disturbance from Recreational and Economic Land Uses- energy resource exploration, oil and gas development, etc.

Recovery Plan
Objectives: 

1. "To protect suitable habitat that is of sufficient size to support a viable Utah prairie dog population and is spatially distributed to provide connectivity within each Recovery Unit"
2. "To establish and maintain viable Utah prairie dog populations in each RU"

Actions Needed:

1. Annual Spring Counts- provide important trend information
2. Translocations- used to increase the numbers of prairie dog colonies in new locations across the species' range
3. Plague Prevention and Response- preventative dusting strategy across species range
4. Safe Harbor Agreements- voluntary restoration, enhancement, and management of farms and ranch lands in the area
5. Protected Lands- Federal Public Lands, Conservation Banks, Utah Prairie Dog Habitat Credit Exchange, etc.
6. Habitat Conservation Plans- Golf Course Habitat Conservation Plan & Iron County Habitat Conservation Plan
7. Endangered Species Act Interagency Conservation and Consultation- ensures any action it authorizes, funds, or carries out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence
8. Research- important to understand biological and habitat requirements and implications of threats to the species
9. Public Outreach and Education- recovery depends public involvement and cooperation
10. Utah Prairie Dog Recovery Implementation Program- recovery of the species while balancing land uses and needs of the human population throughout the species range
11. Biological Constraints and Needs- identify limiting factors to design a management program 

More Information on the Recovery Plan can be found here: https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/1203012_UTPD_RevisedRecoveryPlan_Final.pdf

What Can You Do?

• Educate yourself! Take this quiz to learn more about Utah Prairie Dogs.
• Donate to protect this species here.
• Stay connected! Sign up here to receive news about Utah Prairie Dogs.
• Volunteer! You can easily help protect these animals through these opportunities.
• Spread the word! Use your knowledge to educate others on this issue.

Other Resources

Utah Prairie Dog in Bryce Canyon National Park

Prairie Dog Facts

Utah 'Removing' Hundreds of Prairie Dogs

Utah Prairie Dog Management Returns to the Federal Government

Saving Utah Prairie Dogs on Private Property

Bibliography 

“Prairie Dog Facts.” PRAIRIE DOG FACTS, interesting-animal-facts.com/Desert-Animal-Facts/Prairie-Dog-Facts.shtml. 

Rice, Nathan. “Saving Threatened Utah Prairie Dogs.” High Country News, 20 Aug. 2012, www.wildearthguardians.org/site/DocServer/Saving_threatened_Utah_p-dogs_private_property.pdf?docID=6985&AddInterest=1103. 

Utah Prairie Dog Final Revised Recovery PlanU. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/1203012_UTPD_RevisedRecoveryPlan_Final.pdf. 

“Utah Prairie Dog Management Returns to Federal Government.” Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, 17 Aug. 2017, wildlife.utah.gov/learn-more/prairie-dogs.html. 

“Utah Prairie Dog.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/brca/learn/nature/upd.htm. 

“Utah Prairie Dog Photos and Facts.” Arkive, www.arkive.org/utah-prairie-dog/cynomys-parvidens/. 

“Utah Prairie Dogs: Friend or Foe?” Prairie Dogs: Friend or Foe? | The Nature Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/utah/utah-prairie-dogs-friend-or-foe.xml. 

“Volunteer with the Prairie Dog Coalition.” The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society, www.humanesociety.org/community/volunteers/volunteer-pdc.html?credit=web_id271877979. 

WochitGeneralNews. “Utah 'Removing' Hundreds Of Prairie Dogs.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Sept. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUEyFoYEqa0.