Sumatran striped rabbit
Sumatran striped rabbit[1] | |
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A model of an adult | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Lagomorpha |
Family: | Leporidae |
Genus: | Nesolagus |
Species: | N. netscheri
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Binomial name | |
Nesolagus netscheri (Schlegel, 1880)
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Sumatran striped rabbit range |
The Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri), also known as the Sumatra short-eared rabbit or Sumatran rabbit, is a rabbit found only in forests in the Barisan Mountains in western Sumatra, Indonesia, and surrounding areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Related species
This rabbit was the sole representative of the genus Nesolagus until the Annamite striped rabbit was described in 2000.
Description
The Sumatran striped rabbit weighs 1.5 kg and is between 368 and 417 mm in total length, with a tail 17 mm long, skull length of 67–74 mm, hind foot length of 67–87 mm, and ear length of 34–45 mm.[3] It has black or dark brown stripes on a yellowish grey background that becomes rusty brown towards the rump; the fur on the underparts, on the inside of the legs and below the chin is whitish. The black ears are very short and when folded forward reach only to the eye. The limbs are grey-brown and the rumped tail is reddish.[3][4] It can be differentiated from Oryctolagus cuniculus, which is sometimes kept in captivity in Sumatra and is of a similar size, by Oryctolagus's plain grey-brown fur lacking stripes and slightly longer ears.[5] Their fur is soft and dense, overlaid by longer, harsher hairs.[6]
Biology
As the species is rare,
The rabbit rests in the burrows of other animals. It usually eats the stalk and leaves of understory plants, but captive rabbits eat grain, and tropical fruits.[11]
Habitat and range
This species is said to be
Threats
The forests which the species inhabits are being cleared more and more for timber, tea and coffee plantations, and human inhabitation.[7]
Observation in the wild
Following a sighting in 1972, the Sumatran striped rabbit went unreported until an individual rabbit was photographed in 2000.[2] Since then there have been three reports of this species, all from the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park: In January 2007 one was photographed with a camera trap,[12][13] in September 2008 one was photographed by a WWF scientist,[14] and in June 2009 one was observed.[15] In 2011 examples were photographed in the wild by a scientific team using camera traps in Bukit Barisan Seletan and Kerinci Seblat National Parks.[16] In 2022 a farmer attempted to sell a live striped rabbit, opportunistically caught after a flash flood, on Facebook. Kerinci Seblat National Park authorities confiscated it and returned it to the wild.[17] In the 21st Century, it has been detected several times in Isau-Isau Wildlife Reserve.[18]
Conservation
The species is listed as Data Deficient by the
References
- OCLC 62265494.
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ a b Flux, J.E.C. (1990). The Sumatran rabbit Nesolagus netscheri. (J.A. Chapman and J.E.C. Flux, eds.) Rabbits, hares and pikas: status survey and conservation action plan.: IUCN. pp. 137–139.
- ^ Francis, C.M. (2001). A photographic guide to the mammals of South East Asia (including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Java, Sumatra, Bali and Borneo). London: New Holland Publisher. p. 128.
- ISBN 978-0-691-09160-0.
- ISBN 9780801857898. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d Flux, J. E. C. (1990). "The Sumatran Rabbit Nesolagus netscheri". Rabbits, Hares, and Pikas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
- ^ "arnab". World Loanword Database (WOLD). Max Planck Digital Library. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ "kelinci". World Loanword Database (WOLD). Max Planck Digital Library. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ Wilkinson, Richard James (1901). "kuching". A Malay-English dictionary. Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh, limited. p. 545. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
- ^ "Striped rabbit spotted in Sumatra". BBC News. 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
- ^ "World's rarest rabbit captured on film in Indonesian rainforest". Mongabay.com. 2007-04-14. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ WWF Save Sumatra (2009) Rare rabbit species directly photographed. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- S2CID 83737097.
- .
- ^ "Sensation in Sumatra – World's rarest rabbit spotted on Facebook".
- ISSN 0974-7907.