Utah mammals

Ord's Kangaroo Rat in Utah

Dipodomys ordii

Native to Utah S5 Secure in Utah

Not listed as nonindigenous in Utah by USGS NAS; native to its Utah range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Ord's kangaroo rat standing in profile, showing its huge hind feet and long tufted tailOrd's kangaroo rat pausing alert at night, whiskers and dark eye lit by flashOrd's kangaroo rat sitting upright in sandy scrub habitatOrd's kangaroo rat among low shrubs on open sandOrd's kangaroo rat standing on gravel, showing its big ears and hind feet
Photo: ecovore · CC BY 4.0Ord's kangaroo rat standing in profile, showing its huge hind feet and long tufted tailPhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY 4.0Ord's kangaroo rat pausing alert at night, whiskers and dark eye lit by flashPhoto: Dominic Alianelli · CC0Ord's kangaroo rat sitting upright in sandy scrub habitatPhoto: Without Borders · CC0Ord's kangaroo rat among low shrubs on open sandPhoto: CK2AZ · CC BY 4.0Ord's kangaroo rat standing on gravel, showing its big ears and hind feet

Ord's Kangaroo Rat in Utah, by the numbers

Common in Utah 3rd most recorded of 141 mammals logged in Utah

6,688 occurrence records
61 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 9, 2026 Last seen in Utah

Records from 2000–2026.

6,688 total records count every Utah occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 6,595 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Ord's Kangaroo Rat in Utah

Most sightings fall in April to September.

6,595 Utah occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Utah records (table)
MonthRecords
January70
February57
March87
April774
May1,255
June1,202
July1,071
August764
September770
October410
November124
December11

Monthly ord's kangaroo rat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Utah, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Utah, with recorded sightings peaking in April–September.

Occurrence map

Where Ord's Kangaroo Rat has been recorded in Utah

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Utah records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
The State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration 1552 483
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 178
Bears Ears National Monument 73
Dinosaur National Monument 62
Capitol Reef National Park 40
State Trust Lands Oak City Block 38
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 36
Mexican Mountain Wilderness Area 11

Protected places with the most ord's kangaroo rat sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Utah

CountyRecords
Tooele County 2,308
San Juan County 1,828
Juab County 319
Uintah County 308
Utah County 294
Millard County 237
Kane County 211
Emery County 208
Garfield County 202
Grand County 134
Wayne County 118
Salt Lake County 104
13 other counties 417

The complete county distribution, spread across 25 Utah counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Utah’s Ord’s kangaroo rat reports trace the sandy parts of the Colorado Plateau. Canyonlands has the strongest named-place cluster, with smaller groups around Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante. Those settings offer loose ground for burrows beside broad areas of rock where digging isn’t possible.

Reports rise sharply from April through June and again in September. That pattern may reflect warm nights and field activity as well as the animal itself, so it doesn’t show how many kangaroo rats live there.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Ord's kangaroo rat standing in profile, showing its huge hind feet and long tufted tail
Full species profile Ord's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ordii Size 21–36.5 cm8.3–14.4 in Weight 50 g1.8 oz Lifespan Up to 9.9 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Utah in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"