Sumatran Striped Rabbit

Sumatran Striped Rabbit[1]
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Lagomorpha
Family:	Leporidae
Genus:	Nesolagus
Species:	N. netscheri
Binomial name
Nesolagus netscheri (Schlegel, 1880)
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 forest in the Barisan Mountains in western Sumatra, Indonesia. It is threatened due to habitat loss, leading the IUCN to rate it as Vulnerable.^[2]

The Sumatran Striped Rabbit is usually about 40 cm (1 ft, 4 in) long, with tails 17mm long^[3] . It is gray with brown stripes, with a red tail and rump, and the underside is white. It lives in forests at altitudes of 600-1400 metres. It is nocturnal, resting in the burrows of other animals. It usually eats the stalk and leaves of understory plants, but captive rabbits ate grain, and tropical fruits.^[4]

Following a sighting in 1972, the Sumatran Striped Rabbit went unreported until an individual 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,^[5] in September 2008 one was photographed by a WWF scientist,^[6] and in June 2009 one was observed.^[7]

Related species

This rabbit was the sole representative of the genus Nesolagus until the Annamite Striped Rabbit was discovered in the Annamite Mountains between Laos and Vietnam.

References

1. ^ Hoffman, Robert S.; Smith, Andrew T. (16 November 2005). "Order Lagomorpha (pp. 185-211". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 205. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=13500251. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Meijaard E & Sugardjito J (2008). Nesolagus netscheri. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 2009-01-22. Listed as Vulnerable B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) ver 3.1
3. ^ Macdonald, Dr. David (1993) (in English). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Fact on File, Inc.. ISBN 0-87196-871-1. 
4. ^ Gorog, Antonia. "Animal Diversity Web: Nesolagus netscheri". University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Nesolagus_netscheri.html. Retrieved 2007-04-05. 
5. ^ "Striped rabbit spotted in Sumatra". BBC News. 2007-04-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6530365.stm. Retrieved 2007-04-05. 
6. ^ WWF Save Sumatra (2009) Rare rabbit species directly photographed. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
7. ^ Dinets, V.L. (2010). "Observation of Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus nescheri) in the wild". Mammalia 74 pp.: 1.