Artikel ini di muat untuk mengenalkan flora dan fauna di area konservasi sumatera.
Sumatran rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri)
Facts
| Also known as: | Sumatran short-eared rabbit and Sumatran striped rabbit |
|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Lagomorpha |
| Family | Leporidae |
| Genus | Nesolagus (1) |
| Size | Head-body length: 368 – 417 mm (2) |
| Weight | 1.5 kg (2) |
Status
Classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1).
Description
The Sumatran rabbit is thought to be the rarest species of all lagomorphs (rabbits, hares and pikas) (2). Only 15 museum specimens of the Sumatran rabbit exist, collected between 1880 and 1929, and until 1998, when the Sumatran rabbit was captured on camera, it had only been seen alive once since 1916 (3) (4). It has soft, short yellowish-grey fur, turning rusty brown toward the rear, with distinctive wide black or dark brown stripes across its face and back, providing wonderful camouflage in its forest habitat (2). The fur on the underparts is whitish, its ears are black, and its tail is so short it is not normally visible (2).
Range
| View a distribution map for this species at |  |
Habitat
The Sumatran rabbit is one of the few lagomorphs that inhabits dense rainforest. It has been found between 600 and 1,600 metres above sea level, however, much of its forest habitat has now been cleared for tea and coffee plantations (2).
Biology
Incredibly rare, nocturnal and found only in remote forests, it is easy to understand why local people have no name for the Sumatran rabbit and why many are not even aware of its existence (2). It spends daylight hours in dark shelters, such as holes in the base of trees or burrows of its own making (2) (5), and emerges at night to feed on plants in the forest understorey (2).
Threats
The forests of the Barisan Mountains are being rapidly cleared for timber, tea and coffee plantations and human settlements. An influx of immigrants from Java through a transmigration program has only increased the rate at which the rabbit's habitat is disappearing (2).
Conservation
While the Sumatran rabbit is very poorly known, it is clear that its continued survival relies on the existence of its montane forest habitat (2) (4). It is important to locate a viable population of the rabbit, and then implement protective measures for both the rabbit and its habitat. If a population is located, it may also be necessary to initiate a captive breeding program, to create a population of rabbits for reintroduction should this rare and intriguing rabbit disappear from its natural habitat (2).
Further Information
For further information on the Sumatran rabbit and its conservation see:
- EDGE of Existence:
www.edgeofexistence.org/species/species_info.asp?id=10
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Endemic: A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
Nocturnal: Active at night.
References
- IUCN Red List (September, 2007)
http://www.iucnredlist.org - Flux, J.E.C. (1990) The Sumatran Rabbit Nesolagus netscheri. In: Chapman, J.A. and Flux, J.E.C. Eds. Rabbits, Hares and Pikas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
- Surridge, A.K., Timmins, R.J., Hewitt, G.M. and Bell, D.J. (1999) Striped rabbits in Southeast Asia. Nature, 400: 726.
- Wildlife Conservation Society (October, 2007)
http://www.wcs.org/353624/cameratraprabbit - Macdonald, D.W. (2006) The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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