White-tailed Prairie Dog

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White-tailed Prairie Dog
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Cynomys
Species: C. leucurus
Binomial name
Cynomys leucurus
(Merriam, 1890)

The White-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys leucurus) is found in western Wyoming and western Colorado with small areas in eastern Utah and southern Montana. The largest populations are in Wyoming. This prairie dog species lives between 5,000 and 10,000 feet, generally a higher elevation than other prairie dog species. Its predators include black-footed ferrets, badgers, and golden eagles.

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[edit] Description

The white-tailed prairie dog is tan-brown in color, with large eyes and a dark patch on their cheeks above and below each eye[1].

[edit] Conservation Status

The species appears in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with a status of lower risk/least concern, last assessed in 1996[2]. Petitions have been made to protect the White-tailed prairie dog, but they have been denied by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service due to insufficient scientific data describing current population trends[3].

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.r6.fws.gov/species/mammals/wtprairiedog/ US Fish and Wildlife Service
  2. ^ http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/42454/summ
  3. ^ http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/pressrel/04-78.htm US Fish and Wildlife Service White-tailed Prairie Dog Press Release

[edit] External links

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