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Erin McCallum

Black-tailed Prairie Dog Background and Recovery

General Overview

Five species of prairie dogs occur across western North America. The black-tailed prairie dog is the most numerous of the five, and is the only species found in the Great Plains. Black-tailed prairie dogs (prairie dogs) once numbered in the hundreds of millions in large colonies that covered roughly 10-20 percent (40-80 million acres) of the Great Plains including portions of 11 U.S. states, two Mexican states and two Canadian provinces. These immense prairie dog colonies – often more than 10 miles wide – provided abundant food, shelter and habitat for dozens of other species of wildlife such as hawks, eagles, foxes, coyotes, badgers, owls, snakes, pronghorn, bison and black-footed ferrets.

The widespread destruction of prairie dog colonies and the arrival of exotic diseases in the 1900s reduced prairie dogs by more than 95 percent over the last 150 years. To this day prairie dogs continue to be poisoned, shot, bulldozed, and killed by exotic disease. Prairie dogs are routinely poisoned on both private and public lands, often at taxpayer expense, and shot. Many people believe erroneously that livestock are commonly injured by accidentally stepping into prairie dog holes. Many ranchers dislike prairie dogs because they eat grass that could otherwise feed livestock.

By 1998 black-tailed prairie dogs were reduced from the historic 40-80 million acres to small fragmented colonies totaling possibly one million acres. This may still sound like a lot, but it represents only about one or two percent of their historic level. This means that more than 95 percent of this once-abundant food source and habitat for dozens of other species was gone. Implications for these other species was predictably similar; many declined by more than 95 percent as well, most notably the black-footed ferret which is now a critically endangered species.

In 1998 conservation organizations petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the black-tailed prairie dog as a threatened species. This began the first organized attempts to conserve the species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the species may indeed deserve protection as a threatened species, but it lacked the time and money to make a final determination. It was therefore placed on the “candidate” list of species awaiting a final decision.

In an effort to prevent listing as a threatened species, the 11 states within the former range of the black-tailed prairie dog formed a black-tailed prairie dog conservation team in 1998 to identify the major threats to the species and reduce them. A few states did reduce threats: Colorado banned prairie dog shooting on federal lands, and Montana and South Dakota banned shooting for 2 to 3 months in the spring on federal lands. Also, the National Park Service banned prairie dog poisoning on National Parks, the U.S. Forest Service banned prairie dog poisoning on National Grasslands and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) banned prairie dog poisoning on BLM lands. Prairie dog colonies began to expand on these federal properties, which benefited an abundance of wildlife.

But in August 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the black-tailed prairie dog from the “candidate” list due to political pressure. The very next day, the U.S. Forest Service announced plans to begin mass poisoning of prairie dogs on National Grasslands in South Dakota and Nebraska. Since then, new plans to poison prairie dogs on federal lands have appeared in North Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. Also, Colorado reduced its shooting ban on federal lands from year-long to only 3 months, and Montana’s shooting ban will expire in late 2007 without extension.

The progress that was made in the late 1990s and early 2000s is now being eroded. But Defenders continues to work to protect and restore large prairie dog colonies – and the many species that depend on them – in key places across the Plains.