Gunnison's Prairie Dog - Predators and Disease

Predators and Disease

Predators include badgers, wolves, coyotes, bobcats, black-footed ferrets, weasels, golden eagles and large hawks. Humans also affect prairie dog populations; for example, some ranchers implement poisoning programs to eliminate them.

Plague (disease), caused by Yersinia pestis and transmitted via fleas, can wipe out a numerous individuals of the prairie dog populations.

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