Prairie dogs possess strong family bonds and sophisticated language skills.

These personable burrow-dwellers are a keystone species, providing essential food and digging underground tunnels other native wildlife make use of. Unfortunately, neither their charm nor their role in promoting biodiversity has saved prairie dogs from decades of persecution by those who view them as pests. Every year, prairie dogs are poisoned, shot for sport or even buried alive when colonies are bulldozed to make way for development.

prairie dog jump-yipping
Kathy Milani
/
The HSUS
Prairie dogs are master linguists.

One scientific study shows that prairie dogs have complex language skills, including “words” for specific things they see, like “tall human in blue shirt.”

Collaborative prairie dog restoration work, translocated colony in peril to protected habitat.
Some prairie dog colonies in peril are translocated to protected habitats.
Noelle Guernsey
/
The HSUS
Did you know?

Prairie dogs build intricate warrens with kitchen, bedroom, nursery and bathroom areas. These underground tunnels also benefit jackrabbits, tiger salamanders, toads, swift foxes, burrowing owls and other species.

Scared yellow dog left out in the rain and mud

For every animal saved, countless others are still suffering. By stepping up for them, you can create a future where animals no longer have to suffer in puppy mills, factory farms, testing labs or other heartbreaking situations. Start saving lives today!

Kathy Milani / The HSUS