Black-tailed jackrabbit
Lepus californicus Gray, 1837
The black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) is a mammal in the family Leporidae, order Lagomorpha. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial herbivore that is nocturnal, with an adult body mass of 2.4 kg.
Quick facts about the black-tailed jackrabbit
Gestation lasts 43.5 days, with 2.68 young per litter and 3.73 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 243 days. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 2.32 kg – 2.42 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- 61 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 6.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 11.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 41 days – 43.5 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.68src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 8 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 3.73src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the black-tailed jackrabbit?
Photos of the black-tailed jackrabbit
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the black-tailed jackrabbit live?
Not recorded
What is the black-tailed jackrabbit?
The black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), also known as the American desert hare, is a common hare of the western United States and Mexico, where it is found at elevations from sea level up to 10,000 ft (3,000 m). Reaching a length around 2 ft (61 cm), and a weight from 3 to 6 lb (1.4 to 2.7 kg), the black-tailed jackrabbit is one of the largest North American hares. Black-tailed jackrabbits occupy mixed shrub-grassland terrains. Their breeding depends on the location; it typically peaks in spring, but may continue all year round in warm climates. Young are born fully furred with eyes open; they are well camouflaged and are mobile within minutes of birth, thus females do not protect or even stay with the young except during nursing. The average litter size is around four, but may be as low as two and as high as seven in warm regions.
The black-tailed jackrabbit does not migrate or hibernate during winter and uses the same habitat of 0.4–1.2 mi2 (1.0–3.1 km2) year-round. Its diet is composed of various shrubs, small trees, grasses, and forbs. Shrubs generally comprise the bulk of fall and winter diets, while grasses and forbs are used in spring and early summer, but the pattern and plant species vary with climate. The black-tailed jackrabbit is an important prey species for raptors and carnivorous mammals, such as eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes, and wild cats. The hares host many ectoparasites including fleas, ticks, lice, and mites; for this reason, hunters often avoid collecting them.
From the Wikipedia article “Black-tailed jackrabbit” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-tailed_jackrabbit&oldid=1380442282), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black-tailed jackrabbit endangered?
The black-tailed jackrabbit is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the black-tailed jackrabbit classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderLagomorpha
- familyLeporidae
- genusLepus
- SpeciesLepus californicus Gray, 1837
Other names and names in other languages (44)
- American desert hareEnglish
- Black-tail jackrabbitEnglish
- Black-tailed jack rabbitEnglish
- Blacktail jackrabbitEnglish
- California jackrabbitEnglish
- Gray-sided jackrabbitEnglish
- Great plains jackrabbitEnglish
- Jackass hareEnglish
- Jackass-hareEnglish
- Narrow-gage muleEnglish
- Narrow-gauge muleEnglish
- Texan hareEnglish
- Texas jackEnglish
- Калифорни моренMari
- zajíc tmavoocasýCzech
- EselhaseGerman
- Kalifornischer EselhaseGerman
- Μαυρόουρος ΛαγόςGreek
- LiebreSpanish
- Liebre cola negraSpanish
- Liebre de CaliforniaSpanish
- Liebre De Cola NegraSpanish
- mustahäntäjänisFinnish
- Lièvre de CalifornieFrench
- ארנבת שחורת-זנבHebrew
- kaliforniai szamárnyúlHungarian
- AsnahériIcelandic
- オグロジャックウサギJapanese
- 북미사막토끼Korean
- 캘리포니아멧토끼Korean
- KaliforniahareNorwegian Bokmål
- Svarthalet EselhareNorwegian Bokmål
- ZwartstaartlepelhaasDutch
- zając wielkouchyPolish
- Lebre-da-CalifórniaPortuguese
- Iepure de CaliforniaRomanian
- Iepure cu coadă neagrăRomanian
- Iepure-măgar californianRomanian
- Чернохвостый заяцRussian
- Калифорнийский заяцRussian
- kalifornijski dolgouhi zajecSlovenian
- svartsvansad åsnehareSwedish
- Заєць чорнохвостийUkrainian
- 黑尾長耳大野兔Chinese
Relatives of the black-tailed jackrabbit
Other species in the same genus Lepus.
European hare
Lepus europaeus
Mountain hare
Lepus timidus
Arctic hare
Lepus arcticus
Snowshoe hare
Lepus americanus
Cape hare
Lepus capensis
Granada hare
Lepus granatensis
CompareBlack-tailed jackrabbit vs European hareBlack-tailed jackrabbit vs Mountain hareBlack-tailed jackrabbit vs Arctic hareBlack-tailed jackrabbit vs Snowshoe hare
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the black-tailed jackrabbit?
The black-tailed jackrabbit is a mammal in the family Leporidae, order Lagomorpha, genus Lepus.
How heavy is a black-tailed jackrabbit?
An adult black-tailed jackrabbit has a body mass of 2.4 kg, which places it in the medium size class.
What does the black-tailed jackrabbit eat?
The black-tailed jackrabbit is a herbivore.
Is the black-tailed jackrabbit endangered?
No. The IUCN lists the black-tailed jackrabbit as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a black-tailed jackrabbit live?
The black-tailed jackrabbit has a lifespan of 6.8 years, with values up to 11.81 years reported.
How many young does a black-tailed jackrabbit have?
The black-tailed jackrabbit has 2.68 young per litter and 3.73 litters per year, after a gestation period of 43.5 days.
Is the black-tailed jackrabbit nocturnal?
Yes. The black-tailed jackrabbit is nocturnal and terrestrial.
Who named the black-tailed jackrabbit?
The black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus, was named by Gray, 1837.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-jackrabbit
“Black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-jackrabbit.
@misc{black_tailed_jackrabbit_2026,
title = {Black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-jackrabbit},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}