There is no single census count for all prairie dogs in North America, but the best available data paints a stark picture: prairie dogs have been eliminated from over 95% of their historic range. The most widespread species, the black-tailed prairie dog, currently occupies only about 9% of its remaining suitable grassland habitat, roughly 1.9 million hectares out of 20.8 million hectares that could support them. Total numbers across all five species likely fall somewhere in the tens of millions, down from hundreds of millions before European settlement.
Why a Single Number Is Hard to Pin Down
Prairie dogs live in vast, scattered colonies across the Great Plains and intermountain West. Wildlife agencies typically measure populations by tracking occupied acreage rather than counting individual animals, because colony sizes fluctuate dramatically with seasons, plague outbreaks, and breeding cycles. Densities within a single colony can range from 5 to nearly 90 animals per hectare depending on the species, location, and time of year. That variability makes extrapolating a continent-wide headcount unreliable.
What researchers can say with confidence is how much ground prairie dogs have lost. Their total geographic range in the United States spans about 1.6 million square kilometers, but the vast majority of that land no longer supports colonies. A 2023 analysis identified 20.8 million hectares of suitable grassland habitat for black-tailed prairie dogs alone, yet only 9% is currently occupied. That gap between available and occupied habitat reflects over a century of poisoning campaigns, habitat conversion to cropland, and disease.
The Five Species and Their Status
North America has five prairie dog species, and their situations vary widely.
Black-tailed prairie dogs are by far the most numerous and widespread, ranging from Montana and the Dakotas south through Texas. They account for the bulk of all prairie dogs on the continent. Despite their relative abundance, they occupy a fraction of their former territory.
White-tailed prairie dogs live in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Montana at higher elevations. In Wyoming, recent estimates put occupied habitat between 186,000 and 300,000 hectares. Their population experienced a moderate historical decline but has stabilized in recent years. Some local populations have rebounded significantly. Near Meeteetse, Wyoming, densities jumped four-fold between 2013 and 2015, from about 5 animals per hectare to as many as 27.
Utah prairie dogs are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, a designation they’ve held since 1973. Their range is limited to southwestern Utah. The federal recovery plan requires at least 6,000 adults spread across three recovery units, sustained for five consecutive years, before the species can be delisted. As of the most recent analyses, only five colonies were large enough to have a 95% chance of surviving 200 years.
Gunnison’s prairie dogs occupy parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Colony densities vary enormously by site, from around 6 animals per hectare in some Arizona valleys to nearly 90 per hectare near Flagstaff. They are not federally listed but face ongoing threats from plague and habitat loss.
Mexican prairie dogs are the rarest species, listed as endangered since 1970. They survive only in a small area of northeastern Mexico, and current range data is limited.
What Drove the Decline
The most dramatic population losses happened in the 20th century, when federal and state agencies ran large-scale poisoning campaigns to eliminate prairie dogs from rangeland. Ranchers viewed them as competitors for cattle forage, and millions of acres of colonies were deliberately wiped out. Habitat conversion to agriculture removed additional territory permanently.
Today, the single greatest ongoing threat is sylvatic plague, a bacterial disease carried by fleas. Plague is not native to North America and was introduced around 1900. When it sweeps through a colony, it kills 95 to 99% of the animals. Entire colonies can vanish within weeks. Because prairie dogs have no evolutionary history with the disease, they have virtually no natural resistance. Wildlife agencies have experimented with plague vaccine delivered through flavored bait pellets, with some promising early results, but large-scale deployment remains a challenge.
Urbanization continues to eliminate colonies on the edges of growing cities across Colorado, Texas, and other plains states. Recreational shooting also reduces local populations in some areas, though its impact is smaller compared to plague and habitat loss.
Why Prairie Dog Numbers Matter
Prairie dogs are a keystone species, meaning their presence supports a disproportionate number of other animals. Around 200 species use prairie dog burrows for shelter, 117 species have some direct relationship with prairie dogs as predators, prey, or burrow-users, and at least 8 species depend on them entirely. The black-footed ferret, North America’s most endangered mammal, eats almost nothing but prairie dogs and raises its young in their burrows. Burrowing owls, a species of conservation concern, also rely on abandoned prairie dog tunnels for nesting.
Prairie dog colonies reshape the landscape in ways that benefit grassland ecosystems broadly. Their digging aerates soil and improves water infiltration. Their grazing keeps vegetation short, which attracts pronghorn, bison, and certain ground-nesting birds that prefer open sightlines. When prairie dog colonies disappear, the ripple effects move through the entire food web.
Conservation Targets and Protected Habitat
Federal recovery efforts focus most intensely on the two listed species. For Utah prairie dogs, the recovery plan calls for protecting at least 5,000 acres of occupied habitat in each of three recovery units and maintaining at least 2,000 adults per unit for five straight years. That totals 15,000 acres of protected land and 6,000 adults minimum. The plan relies heavily on conservation easements, voluntary agreements with private landowners, and financial incentives for ranchers willing to coexist with colonies on their property.
For black-tailed prairie dogs, a 2025 USDA analysis identified roughly 97,000 square kilometers of land with the highest conservation potential, factoring in habitat quality, connectivity between colonies, climate projections, and the social and political feasibility of protection. That represents the top 10% of suitable habitat and offers a roadmap for where conservation dollars could have the greatest impact.
The gap between where prairie dogs are and where they could be remains enormous. With 91% of suitable black-tailed prairie dog habitat sitting empty, the species has room to recover many times over if threats like plague, poisoning, and development can be managed. Whether that recovery happens depends largely on how plains states balance ranching interests with the ecological value these colonies provide.