Romerolagus diazi

– Endangered

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

ANIMALIA

Phylum:

CHORDATA

Class:

MAMMALIA

Order:

LAGOMORPHA

Family:

LEPORIDAE

Scientific Name:

Romerolagus diazi

Species Authority:

(Ferrari-Pérez, 1893)

Common Name/s:

English	—	VOLCANO RABBIT
French	—	LAPIN DE DIAZ, LAPIN DES VOLCANS
Spanish	—	CONEJO DE DÍAZ, CONEJO DE LOS VOLCANES, TEPORINGO, ZACATUCHE

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

EN A1abc+2bc, B1+2bcd+3abc, C1+2a ver 2.3 (1994)

Year Assessed:

1996

Annotations:

Needs updating

Assessor/s:

Lagomorph Specialist Group

History:

1982	-	Endangered (Thornback and Jenkins 1982)
1986	-	Endangered (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
1988	-	Endangered (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1990	-	Endangered (IUCN 1990)
1994	-	Endangered (Groombridge 1994)

Geographic Range

Range Description:	The volcano rabbit is endemic to central Mexico. Evidence of the species has been found on only four volcanoes across the Tansverse Neovolcanic Belt (TNB): Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl (Sierra Nevada), El Pelado, and Tlaloc (Sierra Chichinautzin). The present distribution of the species is restricted to three discontinuous areas of core habitat which together cover a total area of around 280 km².
Countries:	Native: Mexico

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

Volcano rabbits are found between 2,800 and 4,250 m in elevation inhabiting pine forests (Pinus) with dense undergrowth of bunch grass and rocky substrates. Most of the areas where the rabbit is found have winter drought and summer rains with a mean annual precipitation of around 1,500 mm.

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

1.4	Forest - Temperate

Threats

Threats:

Habitat destruction and hunting threaten the survival of the rabbit in the three core areas. Hunting is now illegal, but enforcement is difficult.

A variety of agents appear to be responsible for the continuing erosion of the forest habitat. These include forest fires, overgrazing by cattle and sheep, encroachment by agriculture and property developments, over-exploitation of timber, and cutting of grasses for thatch and brush manufacture.

List of Threats:

1.1	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Agriculture (ongoing)
1.1.4	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Agriculture - Livestock (ongoing)
1.3.3	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Extraction - Wood (ongoing)
1.3.4	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Extraction - Non-woody vegetation collection (ongoing)
1.4	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Infrastructure development (ongoing)
1.7	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Fires (ongoing)
3	Harvesting (hunting/gathering) (ongoing)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

The species is listed under appendix I of CITES (1973). Hunting of the species is now illegal under Mexican law, but this legislation is not enforced. Although part of its distribution lies within protected areas (Izta-Popo and Zoquiapan National Parks), agents of habitat destruction continue to operate in these areas.

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Chapman, J.A. and Flux, J.E.C. (compilers and editors) 1990. Rabbits, Hares, and Pikas: a Status Survey and Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Lagomorph Specialist Group. IUCN/SSC, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1988. 1988 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Lagomorph Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website

Mace, G.M. and Balmford, A. 2000. Patterns and processes in contemporary mammalian extinction. In: A. Entwhistle and N. Dunstone (eds) Priorities for the Conservation of Mammalian Diversity. Has the Panda had its day?, pp. 27-52. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Thornback, J. and Jenkins, M. 1982. The IUCN Mammal Red Data Book. Part 1: Threatened mammalian taxa of the Americas and the Australasian zoogeographic region (excluding Cetacea). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Citation:	Lagomorph Specialist Group 1996. Romerolagus diazi. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 August 2008.
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