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An endangered species is one that is threatened with extinction; a threatened species is one that is likely to be endangered in the near future. When a species is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, people are not allowed to hunt, import, export or sell the animals. People who violate the rules protecting endangered species can face up to $50,000 in fines and a year in jail. As a result of federal listings, refuges often are created to protect the species.
Endangered: the Mexican prairie dog, which inhabits northeastern Mexico.
Threatened: the Utah prairie dog, a rare prairie dog that inhabits the short-grass prairies of southwestern Utah.
Status to be determined: the white-tailed prairie dog, whose habitat is the high-elevation sagebrush plains of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. It can also be found in southern Montana.
Status to be determined: Gunnison’s prairie dog, which lives in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.
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Status to be determined: the black-tailed prairie dog, whose short-grass prairie habitat once included parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. It is being considered for a threatened-species listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
–Jargon
