The Douglas County pocket gopher has fur-lined cheek pouches for food storage.
A Disappearing Prairie Native
Limited surveys for the Douglas County pocket gopher conducted in 1993 and 1994 located only five active sites. Ten years later, no additional work had been done to try to identify and protect Douglas County pocket gopher habitat, yet its limited habitat was quickly vanishing under asphalt and new shopping centers. Douglas County experienced explosive population growth over those ten years and in 2001 was the fastest growing county in the nation, which led to the loss of many of Douglas County’s grasslands.
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Natural History
Pocket gophers are considered keystone species because they make such a large contribution to the ecosystems they inhabit. In turning and mixing huge quantities of soil, they aerate the ground which allows water to be absorbed more easily, and they create patches of different soil types which leads to more diverse grasslands. Forgotten underground food caches fertilize pocket gopher landscapes, and the gophers themselves provide important prey for owls and coyotes. Their unique lifestyles have led many populations to develop important local adaptations; consequently, pocket gophers have diversified into a stunning array of species and subspecies. Subspecies usually do not overlap, however, so the loss of just one usually results in the complete absence of pocket gophers from an area. The Douglas County pocket gopher is a subspecies of the northern pocket gopher that was first recognized in 1931, and is only found in Douglas County, Colorado, and adjacent portions of Arapahoe and Elbert Counties.
Conservation Status
-No formal federal protection
-Colorado Division of Wildlife Species of Concern
Action Taken
Center for Native Ecosystems and WildEarth Guardians petitioned to protect this subspecies under the Endangered Species Act in order to avert its impending extinction. A month after we filed our petition, the Colorado Division of Wildlife collaborated with the affected counties and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct roadside surveys looking for additional pocket gopher sites. The good news was that more sites were identified; unfortunately, only a handful are on public land, and we remain concerned about its long-term survival.
Read More
Petition to List Douglas County Pocket Gopher as Endangered
