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Protect Pygmy Rabbits Before Sagebrush Habitat Vanishes

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Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site

Pygmy rabbits depend on sagebrush to survive. Federal delays are leaving them exposed while their habitat disappears.

Close-up side profile of a brown rabbit with upright ears and a large dark eye, standing outdoors against a soft green background.

Pygmy rabbits are tiny sagebrush-dependent animals found across parts of the interior West. They rely on sagebrush for food, shelter, and survival, and they are one of the few rabbit species that dig their own burrows.

Conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May 2026 to force an overdue decision on whether the pygmy rabbit should receive Endangered Species Act protection.1 Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians first petitioned the agency to protect the species in March 2023. The Fish and Wildlife Service later found that protection may be warranted, but the agency missed the legal deadline for a final decision.1

Earthjustice says the agency now indicates it may not finish the listing determination until fiscal year 2028, four years after the date required by law.1

Sagebrush Habitat Is Disappearing

Pygmy rabbits need mature, connected sagebrush habitat. KUNR reported that the rabbit lives in sagebrush habitat across eight Western states: Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, California, Oregon, and Washington.3 Conservationists say that habitat is threatened by wildfire, invasive grasses, oil and gas development, grazing, and climate change.

WyoFile reported that when federal officials found listing may be warranted, the agency cited compound threats from fire, cheatgrass, and climate change.4 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife notes that pygmy rabbits are sagebrush obligates, depending on dense sagebrush stands for year-round food and shelter.5

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s own species profile lists the petition to protect the pygmy rabbit under the Endangered Species Act.2 The agency has enough information to know the decision matters. It must stop delaying.

Federal Delay Can Become Habitat Loss

Endangered Species Act deadlines exist because delay itself can harm species. While agencies wait, habitat can be drilled, grazed, burned, fragmented, converted, or invaded by cheatgrass. For a species tied so closely to one habitat type, every lost sagebrush stand matters.

Director Nesvik and Secretary Burgum should direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to issue the overdue finding by a binding deadline, use the best available science, and protect key sagebrush habitat from further loss while the review proceeds.

The world’s smallest rabbit should not be left in legal limbo while the sagebrush sea disappears around it.

Sign now to urge federal wildlife officials to issue the overdue pygmy rabbit protection decision and safeguard the sagebrush habitat this tiny species needs to survive.

More on this issue:

  1. Earthjustice, Earthjustice (13 May 2026), "Conservation Groups Sue Trump Administration to Protect World’s Smallest Bunnies."
  2. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Conservation Online System (Accessed 28 May 2026), "Species Profile for Pygmy Rabbit."
  3. Kaleb Roedel, KUNR Public Radio (20 May 2026), "As sagebrush shrinks in the West, conservation groups push for pygmy rabbit protections."
  4. WyoFile Staff, WyoFile (26 May 2026), "Endangered Species Act protections for pygmy rabbits: Groups sue Trump administration over missed deadlines."
  5. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, WDFW (Accessed 28 May 2026), "Pygmy rabbit."

The Petition

To the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director and Secretary of the Interior,

I urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of the Interior to issue the overdue Endangered Species Act finding for the pygmy rabbit and protect the sagebrush habitat this species needs to survive.

Pygmy rabbits are the world’s smallest rabbits and depend on sagebrush for food, shelter, and survival. They live in sagebrush landscapes across the interior West, where habitat is being fragmented and degraded by wildfire, invasive grasses, livestock grazing, oil and gas development, climate change, and other pressures.

Conservation groups petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service in March 2023 to protect the pygmy rabbit under the Endangered Species Act. The agency later found that protection may be warranted, triggering a legal deadline for a final determination. That deadline has passed, and the species remains in limbo.

Delay is not harmless. While the agency waits, sagebrush habitat can be lost, degraded, or fragmented. Pygmy rabbits cannot simply shift to another ecosystem. They need dense sagebrush, deep soils for burrows, and connected habitat that supports food and shelter throughout the year.

The Endangered Species Act requires timely decisions because vulnerable species cannot wait indefinitely. The Fish and Wildlife Service should issue the overdue finding by a binding deadline, use the best available science, and protect key sagebrush habitat from further destruction while the decision proceeds.

This case is about more than one small animal. Pygmy rabbits are part of a sagebrush ecosystem that supports many species and is under increasing pressure across the West. Protecting them would also help defend the habitat that many other animals need.

Please stop the delay. Issue the overdue pygmy rabbit finding and take immediate steps to protect sagebrush habitat from further loss.

Sincerely,

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