Giant Kangaroo Rat - Kylie Kowalske

The Giant Kangaroo Rat

Genus Dipodymus

Description and Ecology of Organism

The giant kangaroo rat has short forelimbs and large hind limbs, adapted for bipedal locomotion and allowing the animal to hop on two feet (giving it the name the "kangaroo" rat). The rat also has a very disproportional upper body with a short neck, yet a large, flattened head. The tail of the giant kangaroo rat is longer than its entire body length, including its head, and has a dorsal crest of long hairs at the end, creating a tuft. The animal has two large, fur-lined cheek pouches on each sides of its mouth to help it store nuts and other foods while foraging. The mean mass of the males is 157 grams and 151.4 grams for the females. The giant kangaroo rat is the largest of more than 20 species in the genus. 

The diet of the giant kangaroo rat mainly consist of nuts and seeds, yet they will also occasionally eat grass and insects as well. When foraging for food, the animals will collect seeds and bury them in the ground to hide their food from other animals. The giant kangaroo rats have a very successful reproductive history and tend to breed around the time period between December until March. They can have 2-3 liters a year with a gestation period around a month long.

Geographic and Population Changes
Climate changes in the areas in which the giant kangaroo rat inhabits have caused differences in the population numbers over the years. Before the 1950s, colones of giant kangaroo rats expanded all over the western San Joaquin valley, Carrizo Plain, and Cuyama valley. Their estimated habitat size was 631,724 hectares. Currently, their population is separated into six different geographic regions; the panoche region, kettleman hills, san juan creek valley, western kern county, carrizo plain natural area, and cuyama valley. Within these six locations, the giant kangaroo rats are separated into more than 100 smaller populations. The different habitats are separated by unsuitable plant communities, agricultural, industrial, or urban land. The population size of the giant kangaroo rat has fluctuated since the 1979 due to different weather patterns. In their peak in 1992, there were six to eight times more individuals than in the lowest period during spring of 1991. Their current acreage is 11,145 hectares.  

Listing Date and Type of Listing
The Giant Kangaroo Rat was officially declared "State and Federally Endangered" on May 5th 1987. This applied within the California and Nevada region and today, it is considered endangered wherever found.

Cause of Listing and Main threats to its Continued Existence
Before the 1970s, very little land within the giant kangaroo rat’s habitat had been developed for agriculture, industrial, or urban use. After the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project and the California Aqueduct of the State Water Project were completed, they resulted in the cultivation and irrigation of land that had previous been part of the giant kangaroo rat habitat. The large loss of its primary habitat was the main reason for the giant kangaroo rat’s listing as endangered in 1987. During this time, very little of its existing habitat was publicly owned or protected from agricultural or industrial destruction. 

Description of Recovery Plan

In order to achieve the recovery of the giant kangaroo rat, the three largest populations in the western Kern County, Carrizo Plain Natural Area, and Panoche Region, as well as the smaller populations in the Kettleman Hills, San Juan Creek Valley and Cuyama Valley are managed and protected. The giant Kangaroo rat is a keystone species, so the protection of their populations will also benefit other endangered species in the same habitat. The history of demographics within the giant kangaroo rat species shows that the species is not at risk from inbreeding or low reproductive rates, but primarily threaten by variation within the environment. Random catastrophic events such as floods, droughts, and prolonged rainfall are the greatest threat to the survival of the species. Protecting the giant kangaroo rat from these events in nature requires large, protected habitat areas with varying topography and ideal habitat conditions.

Recovery Actions -  The key to the protection of the giant kangaroo rat species is an efficient understanding of compatible land uses and management prescriptions that provide an adequate habitat for the species with ideal conditions. Acquiring protected land will ensure a suitable habitat for local populations. The recovery actions to protect the habitat of the giant kangaroo rats follow:

1. Land in the Lokern Area of western Kern County. The current goal is to protect 90 percent of the existing land bounded on the east by natural lands eat of the california Aqueduct, on the south by Occidental of Elk Hills, on the west by State Highway 33, and on the north by Lokern Road
2. Land in the Naval Petroleum Reserves in California of western Kern county. The current goal is to keep 90 percent of the existing lan in Occidental of Elk Hills, and 80 percent of the natural land in Naval Petroleum Reserve in California No. 2, including all in the Buena Vista/McKittrick Valley between Elk Hills Road on the southeast and State Highway 33 on the northwest, all in a natural state. 
3. Natural land with existing giant kangaroo rat habitats in western Fresno and eastern San Benito counties. The current goal is to protect all existing natural land on the Silver Creek Ranch, and existing habitat for this species along the eastern bases of Monocline Ridge and the Tumey Hills, between Arroyo Ciervo on the south and Panoche Creek on the north;
4. Acquire and restore giant kangaroo rat habitat on periodically farmed land with no or Class-3 irrigation water rights east of the western Fresno and eastern San Benito counties discussed previously, and west of interstate highway 5.
5. The gol is to protect 80 percent of and other preexisting land with giant kangaroo rat habitats in western Kern County. 
6. Land occupied by giant kangaroo rats in the Cuyama Valley, Santa Barbara County;
7. Land occupied by giant kangaroo rats in the Kettleman Hills, Kings County;
8. Land occupied by giant kangaroo rats in the San Juan Creek Valley, San Luis Obispo County.

What can you do?

There are not very many direct actions that can be taken place to make an impactful difference in the conservation of the giant kangaroo rat, but staying aware and informed on the subject is the first step. When entering their habitats, it is important to look out for illegal rat killing techniques that can threaten their species. Another action that can be taken place is for hikers or campers in the wild that may be within a giant kangaroo rat habitat to be careful to check the area for these animals as well as stay on the man made paths in order to prevent destruction of their burrows and important habitat aspects. 

Other resources
FWS Giant Kangaroo Rat Page- FWS Digital Media Library

IUCN Page- http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6678/0