Prairie Dog Pups Pop Out at the Maryland Zoo

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: May 7, 2021 2:59 am

Black-tailed prairie dog pups with their parents at the Maryland Zoo

Photo Credit: Maryland Zoo

Maryland Zoo have welcomed the arrival of a number of black-tailed prairie dog pups in their Prairie Dog Town habitat. The pups began to pop up this week and can be seen exploring above ground.

Prairie Dog Town has been delighting visitors to Maryland Zoo since 2009 when the group moved from the Main Valley to the front of the zoo.

A black-tailed prairie dog pup in its enclosure at the Maryland Zoo

Photo Credit: Maryland Zoo

Black-tailed prairie dogs are found in the western United States. Each spring females produce litters with three to four pups. These are primarily raised in the underground tunnels which the group call home.

Both parents will work together to raise the pups while in the nesting chamber. After seven weeks they emerge above ground and may nurse from any female within the colony.

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Throughout the 1970s black tailed prairie dogs were though to be critically endangered. Conservation efforts have substantially increased their numbers to now be a species of least concern.

They continue to be threatened as a result of habitat loss and eradication efforts by ranchers alongside disease.