Bio227-1: The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat

The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat

Recovery Plan for the Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat
Species Name: Dipodomys Heermannii Morroensis
Listing Type: Endangered
Listing Date: 25 January 2000

It is the smallest subspecies of the Heermann Kangaroo Rat
They resemble tiny kangaroos with bodies ranging from 4 to 5 inches and tails from 6 to 8 inches
They have short front legs, strong hind legs for jumping, and a long tail used for balance
Being nocturnal, they have huge adorable eyes
They weigh between 70 and 80 grams
Males are larger on average than females
Their primary food is seeds
They have 2 to 3 litters a year, each litter containing 1 to 7 pups (average being 2)
Pups are born with no hair or teeth and with their eyes and ears closed.
They are commonly brown and gray with white bellies

Historically, they inhabited about 4 square miles south of Morro Bay. More recently, they can be found on less than one square mile of privately owned land.
The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat occurs only in habitat with stabilized sand dune and coastal dunes. They require sandy soils for their burrows.
The estimated population size in 1957 was 8000, and dropped to 3000 in 1970. This downward trend continued and there are likely fewer than 50 individuals left.

Original Plan approved in 1982, revised in 1999
Recovery Priority is C6, meaning a high degree of threat, with a low potential for recovery
The objective is to downlist to threatened. It is not likely to be delisted due to insufficient habitat.
May be reclassified as threatened if an effective generic population size (number of breeding individuals in an idealized population) of 500 is achieved for 10 consecutive years. An acutal population size for this would be about 2000 individuals.
Actions needed:

Breed up to 100 Morro Bay Kangaroo Rats in captivity with the Lompoc Kangaroo Rat

The first captive breed program was operated at Cal Poly SLO from 1985 to 1988. The program was successful with a 13 percent mortality rate in litters until it was transferred elsewhere due to insufficient funds. Later attempts at captive breeding were less successful.

Work with various agencies to procure, maintain, and improve habitat in all the available areas in the historic habitat.
Reestablish individuals bred in captivity with the Lompac Kangaroo Rat back into the wild.
Revise the plan again based on more analyses after these measures are taken.
Raise awareness in the public and make fundraising efforts.

They are highly adorable.
Captive Breeding has worked, and with a sufficient amount of funds, we could get there.
These little guys could be wiped out by a single catastrophic event.
Who wants to live in a world where Morro Bay Kangaroo Rats ain't a thing?