| Sumatran Striped Rabbit[1] | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: | Nesolagus |
| Species: | N. netscheri |
| Binomial name | |
| Nesolagus netscheri (Schlegel, 1880) |
|
| Sumatran Striped Rabbit range | |
The Sumatran Striped Rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri), also known as the Sumatra Short-eared Rabbit or Sumatran Rabbit, is a rabbit found only in forest in the Barisan Mountains in western Sumatra, Indonesia. It is threatened due to habitat loss, leading the IUCN to rate it as Vulnerable.[2]
The Sumatran Striped Rabbit is usually about 40 cm (1 ft, 4 in) long, with tails 17mm long[3] . It is gray with brown stripes, with a red tail and rump, and the underside is white. It lives in forests at altitudes of 600-1400 metres. It is nocturnal, resting in the burrows of other animals. It usually eats the stalk and leaves of understory plants, but captive rabbits ate grain, and tropical fruits.[4]
Following a sighting in 1972, the Sumatran Striped Rabbit went unreported until an individual was photographed in 2000.[2] Since then there have been three reports of this species, all from the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park: In January 2007 one was photographed with a camera trap,[5] in September 2008 one was photographed by a WWF scientist,[6] and in June 2009 one was observed.[7]
This rabbit was the sole representative of the genus Nesolagus until the Annamite Striped Rabbit was discovered in the Annamite Mountains between Laos and Vietnam.