|Scientific Name:||Meriones sacramenti|
|Species Authority:||Thomas, 1922|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Vulnerable B1ab(iii) ver 3.1|
|Assessor(s):||Hutterer, R., Kryštufek, B., Shenbrot, G. & Yom-Tov, Y.|
|Reviewer(s):||Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Temple, H. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)|
There has been a 15% decline in extent of available habitat over a fifteen year period since 1990 (G. Shenbrot pers. comm.). The species' extent of occurrence is less than 20,000 km², however, some parts of its range are in protected areas in Israel at least. Assessed precautionarily as Vulnerable, but the extent of fragmentation and the number of locations needs to be assessed.
|Range Description:||Meriones sacramenti is endemic to the Negev and the coastal region of northern Sinai (Egypt) and Israel, including Palestine.|
Native:Egypt; Israel; Palestinian Territory, Occupied
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||Little information is known. The species tends to occur at relatively low densities.|
|Habitat and Ecology:||The species lives in coastal dunes with limited vegetation cover, it lives in small family groups. They have also been reported to be more generalist, inhabiting clay and sandy deserts, bush country, arid steppes, low plains, cultivated fields, grasslands, and mountain valleys. They are terrestrial and construct burrows in soft soil. Their diet consists of green vegetation, roots, bulbs, seeds, cereals, fruits and insects. More folivorous than other Meriones species.|
|Major Threat(s):||The eastern sections of the species' range are under threat from urbanization, which has caused a reduction in available habitat of around 10 to 15% over the last ten years (G. Shenbrot pers. comm. 2005). Habitat has also been lost through conversion to agricultural areas, particularly in southern Israel. Much of the species range also falls within a politically unstable area.|
|Conservation Actions:||Found in protected areas in southern Israel.|
Harrison, D. L. and Bates, P. J. J. 1991. The Mammals of Arabia. Harrison Zoological Museum, Sevenoaks, UK.
IUCN. 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 5 October 2008).
|Citation:||Hutterer, R., Kryštufek, B., Shenbrot, G. & Yom-Tov, Y. 2008. Meriones sacramenti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 23 August 2014.|
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