The Giant Kangaroo Rat

By Hannah McKay

The Giant Kangaroo Rat or Dipodomys Ingens is an endemic species to California and can be found along the Southwestern border of the San Joaquin Valley. It is a small mammal about 45 cm in length (including tail) with longer hind legs made for jumping.  The main habitat for this mammal is grasslands with sparse shrubs on shallow slopes.

Certain attributes of how this species interacts with the environment actually make it a keystone species for the area. The Giant Kangaroo Rat cuts down vegetation in its habitat and eats the seeds of plants. The seed clippings provide the soil with nutrients and in turn create a prime ecosystem for other endemic species like the San Joaquin Kit Fox and the Blunt Nosed Leopard Lizard.

http://lpfw.org/ourregion/wildlife/kangaroo-rat/

The Giant Kangaroo Rat mainly eats the plant leaves and seeds and often burrows in the sand of its habitat. Their reproductive season runs from January to May and gestation time is around 1 month. Reproduction is highest when there is sufficient food and space.

The kangaroo rat is also most active 2 hours after it gets dark.

The historical range of the Giant Kangaroo Rat was from “Merced County south to the base of the Tehachapi Mountain in Kern County, and west to eastern San Luis Obispo County and extreme northern Santa Barbara County.” The Giant Kangaroo Rat can now be found in 6 main areas. These include:

1.     Kings County

2.     San Juan Creek Valley (SLO County)

3.     San Benito Counties

4.     Kern County

5.     Carrizo Plain (SLO County)

6.     Cuyama valley (Santa Barbara/SLO)

                  http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/maps/CA_maphtml/m106.html

The Giant Kangaroo Rat lives in fragmented populations so within these larger regions there are smaller isolated populations within.  Steep hills or human made barriers keep populations apart. Severely fragmented populations could contribute to the populations not growing in size.

The Giant Kangaroo Rat was listed as endangered on 9/30/1998.

Causes of listing and major threats:

The main threat to the Giant Kangaroo Rat is habitat destruction and loss. The habitat that the Giant Kangaroo Rat needs is being transitioned into land used primarily for agriculture. Additionally, the land is being used for industrial use or extraction of resources for energy use. The use of land for agriculture has been decreasing over the years, but use for oil fields is on the rise. This creates loss and fragmentation of the habitat for this species.  The loss of over 90% of the Giant Kangaroo Rat’s habitat has occurred.

An additional threat to the species comes in the form of rodenticide. It was used in California for the California Ground Squirrel and other kangaroo rat species, but is negatively affecting the populations of the Giant Kangaroo Rat.

Recovery Plan:

The main goal of the recovery plan is to protect the remaining habitat and populations of the Kangaroo Rat and attempt to stop further destruction of habitat for this species.

To go about this, proper land use needs to be established. Private Property where existing populations occur is taken and turned into a protected area to stop cultivation and use of rodenticide. Additionally the use of livestock grazing where it could help to restore habitat will be used. There will also be more protection on the US Dept. of Energy Naval petroleum reserves. 

The recovery plan also includes continuation of research to find out the optimal habitat conditions for this species and how best to restore habitat that was converted to farmland.  The populations will also be monitored to see how they react to catastrophes and if the recovery plan is working.

The population and habitat will be monitored annually for ten years and then afterwards at 5-yr intervals using trapping as well as aerial counting. Researchers can use the shape of the perfect circles the Giant Kangaroo Rat makes when cutting down vegetation to identify where the populations are occurring.

Recovery can be achieved when the three largest populations are managed, the existing habitat is protected, and we understand the best habitat conditions.

The best action that can be taken to help with this recovery is to spread the word about the Giant Kangaroo Rat in order to ensure that California stays on top of their recovery plan and private landowners do not do things to harm the environment of this species.

Works Cited:

Linzey, A.V. & NatureServe (Williams, D.F. & Hammerson, G.). 2008. Dipodomys ingens. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T6678A12794494.  26 November 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. 25 Nov. 2015.

"Recovery Plan of Species in San Joaquin Valley." SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Web. .

Novey, Levi. "Giant Kangaroo Rat Will Be First Endangered Species Monitored from Space." Planet Save. Important Media, 22 Dec. 2008. Web.

"Giant Kangaroo Rat." Environmental Conservation Online System. US Fish and Wildlife, n.d. Web.