Photo: Rich Reading

Utah prairie dogs have been reduced from their historic acreage of 448,000 to a mere 7,000 acres today – a decline of over 98%. Remaining populations of Utah prairie dogs are systematically disappearing, with the latest census counting only 3,741 prairie dogs, down from 4,217 the year before.

The numbers do not tell the whole story, however. The tale of the Utah prairie dog is one of abuse and utter disregard by economic interests and government agencies.

Despite their long tenure as a species listed under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife allows the Utah prairie dog to be translocated from private lands (where they are flourishing, and where 75% of Utah prairie dogs live), to public lands where they often fail to survive translocation. In fact translocation survival rates seldom exceed 5%. In addition, Utah prairie dogs are legally being shot under a permitting program and their habitat destroyed.

It is little wonder this ecologically important and critically imperiled species fails to recover. In fact, the Utah prairie dog showcases the problems of federal and state agency refusal to properly implement the ESA. This law is all that is left between the Utah prairie dog and the oblivion of extinction.