How to save the Giant Kangaroo Rat– start off with the habitat!

By Sky Ulep

Courtesy of Konica Minolta

Rats! 

Commonly treated as pests of the planet, rats have been given a bad rap as vermin out to spread disease and distress. But not all rodents are as rotten as they seem.

Courtesy of Konica Minolta

Take the Giant Kangaroo Rat for example. This species is known for its strong hind legs, which they use for hopping at high speeds. However, this species does not belong to the family of common rats. They belong to the family of kangaroo rats (Heteromyidae) and are the largest out of 21 different species in the family. Big hind legs, along with a large head and large eyes, are some of the principal characteristics of the kangaroo rat family.

Courtesy of Konica Minolta

The giant kangaroo rat is distinguished from its coexisting kangaroo rats by its size and the number of toes on each of its hind feet. The giant kangaroo rat has five toes on each of its two hind feet, whereas most kangaroo rats have only four toes per foot. Unfortunately, this fascinating creature’s populations are on the decline putting them on the Endangered Species List.

Giant kangaroo rat habitat is primarily desert and dry grassland. However, in recent years most of its habitat has been the victim of habitat degradation and fragmentation due to agricultural, urban, and industrial use.

Up until the 1950s, the giant kangaroo rat was spread over hundreds of thousands of acres of continuous habitat in the western San Joaquin Valley, Carrizo Plain, and Cuyama Valley.

Courtesy of Environmental Conservation Online System

However, due to fragmentation, this species has been divided into six major geographic units: “(1) the Ciervo-Panoche Region in western Fresno and eastern San Benito Counties; (2) Kettleman Hills in southwestern Kings County; (3) San Juan Creek Valley in eastern San Luis Obispo County; (4) the Lokern area, Elk Hills previously known as the National Petroleum Reserve Number One (NPR-1), that includes Buena Vista and McKittrick Valleys, National Petroleum Reserve Number Two (NPR-2), Taft, and Maricopa in western Kern County; (5) the Carrizo Plain in eastern San Luis Obispo County; and (6) the Cuyama Valley along the eastern Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo County line” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS] 1998).

Courtesy of
Environmental Conservation Online System

The giant kangaroo rat was first listed on the Endangered Species List on January 5, 1987 and was listed as critically endangered 1996-2000. The species is currently listed as endangered but its numbers are still on a downward trend. In fact, 95% of habitat has disappeared putting the species on the brink of extinction.

Description of Recovery Plan

Though currently, a majority of habitat for giant kangaroo rats are in public ownership, the addition of habitat protection is vital to recovery.

The key to protection is an adequate understanding of compatible land uses and management prescriptions that provide optimum habitat conditions for giant kangaroo rats. The highest priority for habitat protection is proper land use and management on publicly-owned and conservation lands that include giant kangaroo rat habitat. It is also very important to research habitat management and restoration on former retired farmland.

Courtesy of

Environmental Conservation Online System

Second in priority for habitat protection is the protection of additional land for the recovery of the giant kangaroo rat.

Lastly, it is crucial to have a long-term program for monitoring the giant kangaroo rat populations to understand how the species can respond to stochastic/random events.

When abundant in population, the giant kangaroo rat is prey to the critically endangered San Joaquin kit fox. In addition, its burrows are used by other endangered species such as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the San Joaquin antelope squirrel, and the California jewelflower. Because of its effects on so many other endangered species, the giant kangaroo rat is considered a keystone species.


FUN FACT: The Giant Kangaroo Rat is the first endangered species to be monitored from space by satellites!

Works Cited

"Counting Rats from Space | The Nature Conservancy." Counting Rats from Space | The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

"Endangered Species Recovery Program." H. Giant Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys Ingens). CSU Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program, 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

"Giant Kangaroo Rat-Endangered Animals List-Our Endangered Animals." Giant Kangaroo Rat-Endangered Animals List-Our Endangered Animals | KONICA MINOLTA. Konica Minolta, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2015. 

Linzey, A.V. & NatureServe (Williams, D.F. & Hammerson, G.) 2008. Dipodomys ingens. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 14 March 2015. 

Novey, Levi. "Giant Kangaroo Rat Will Be the First Endangered Species Monitored from Space." PlanetSave. PlanetSave, 22 Sept. 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

"Species Profile for Giant Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys Ingens)." Species Profile for Giant Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys Ingens). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.