Presenting… the long-eared jerboa

I know I’m meant to talk about how nature is awe inspiring and majestic, but sometimes it is just too cute for words. The news was particularly dry today, containing serious stories about a couple of high profile fraud cases, speculation about who’ll the next England football manager, and the Led Zeppelin comeback concert. So this story about the long-eared jerboa being captured on camera was a sight for sore eyes.

These tiny rodents are pretty skilled at keeping out of the way of marauding humans, so they’ve never actually been filmed before. The conservationists from the venerable Zoological Society of London hope the footage they’ve obtained should help us to learn how to protect the little creatures, as they are currently endangered enough to earn a place on the IUCN Red List. The jerboa are also number 81 on the ZSL’s Edge List of 100 most endangered species, sharing space with the long-footed poteroo, the amazonian manatee and many others.

From a more selfish perspective, the footage is a delightful way to pass a few minutes on a rainy Monday night. Possessed of unfeasibly large ears and an impracticably long tail with a black tuft on the end, the jerboa hop around the Gobi dessert like minature kangaroos, digging in the sand and trying to get by. There are 3 clips on the BBC News article (which is where I got the above picture from), and for those of you geographically excluded from watching, ZSL have posted some of their footage on YouTube.

Enjoy.