Animals

Pairi Daiza Foundation

TICKETS & RESERVATIONS

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

Chien de prairie – Pairi Daiza
Mammal

It digs deep burrows up to four metres under the ground

These little “engineer” or “architect” dig deep burrows up to four metres under the ground.

They are complex dwellings, with a room for the parents, a room at the side for the children, a rainwater drainpipe, and even galleries leading to cul-de-sacs for disorientating predators such as coyotes and rattlesnakes.

During the fine weather months, they constitute reserves of body fat by nibbling not only grass and other plants from the great American prairies, but also insects. They also store hay in their underground galleries.

When winter comes, the Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs take refuge in their burrows and fall into a deep sleep for several months on end, only awaking in their nest in order to eat a little hay.

It is the spring that then revives the entire colony.

In Pairi Daiza

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

Discover the dozen Black-tailed Prairie Dogs in the Oasis

Chien de prairie – Pairi Daiza
Identity card

A less threatened species

  • Name: Black-tailed Prairie Dog
  • Latin name: Cynomys ludovicianus
  • Origin: Texas, Utah / USA
  • IUCN status: Least concerned
  • Cites: --

Sponsor the Black-tailed Prairie Dogs

Sponsorship amounts are exclusively for the Pairi Daiza Foundation for projects for the conservation and protection of threatened species.

Je parraine les Chiens de prairie