The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to add the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse, found in Greenlee and Apache Counties, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act and proposing to designate critical habitat. A 60-day public comment period will begin on each of these two proposals when they are published in the Federal register.
Comments should be received by COB August 19, 2013.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the mouse, due to their short lifespan and low birth rate, are threatened by the cumulative habitat loss and fragmentation across its range, compounded by their short lifespan and low birth rate.
The Service is proposing to designate approximately 14,561 acres of critical habitat along streams within Greenlee and Apache Counties in Arizona, Bernalillo, Colfax, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and Socorro Counties, in New Mexico; Las Animas, Archuleta, and La Plata Counties in Colorado. .
The New Mexico meadow jumping mouse is a species that hibernates about 8 or 9 months out of the year, longer than most mammals. Conversely, it is only active 3 or 4 months during the summer. Within this short time frame, it must breed, birth and raise young, and store up sufficient fat reserves to survive the next year’s hibernation period. In addition, jumping mice only live 3 years or less and have one small litter annually with 7 or less young, so the species has limited capacity for high population growth rates due to this low fecundity. As a result, if resources are not available in a single season, jumping mice populations would be greatly stressed, which is less desirable that stressing the human population that has to deal with the pests.