Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit

WDFW says the pygmy rabbit is the smallest rabbit in North America, up to almost 12 inches long and 16 ounces. It is the only North American rabbit known to dig its own burrows. Big sagebrush is about 90 percent of the winter diet. The Columbia Basin population is geographically and genetically distinct. WDFW says it has been isolated from the rest of the species for at least 10,000 years.

The population is state and federally endangered. By 2001 as few as 16 rabbits were known in Washington. A captive-breeding program began, and since 2011 more than 2,000 rabbits have been released at Sagebrush Flat and Chester Butte wildlife areas and at Beezley Hills. As of 2021 WDFW knew wild rabbits only at Sagebrush Flat in southern Douglas County and Beezley Hills in northern Grant County. The Pearl Hill Fire in 2020 erased a third reintroduction near Jameson Lake.

Recovery partners named by WDFW include USFWS, Washington State University, the Oregon Zoo, and The Nature Conservancy. This pin is Sagebrush Flat. The sources below are Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife pages.