Chinese bamboo rat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chinese bamboo rat |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Rhizomys
|
| Species: |
sinensis
|
 |
|
The Chinese bamboo rat (Rhizomys sinensis) is a type of rodent, like a large mouse or rat. It lives in parts of southern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam. You can often find these rats in places with lots of bamboo plants, pine forests, or even on farms. They usually live in high places.
Contents
What Does the Chinese Bamboo Rat Look Like?
These rats are quite big! Their body, from head to where their tail starts, can be about 21 to 38 centimeters (8 to 15 inches) long. Their tail adds another 5 to 9.6 centimeters (2 to 3.8 inches). They weigh between 1.8 and 1.95 kilograms (about 4 to 4.3 pounds). That's like carrying a small bag of sugar!
Their fur is very soft. It's dark grey-brown on their face and the top of their head. The rest of their body is a lighter grey-brown. Their belly has less fur.
How Do Chinese Bamboo Rats Behave?
Chinese bamboo rats usually live alone. They only get together when it's time to have babies. They can have babies all year round, but most are born in the spring. A mother rat usually has two to four babies at a time, but sometimes up to eight! The babies are born without fur and drink their mother's milk for about three months.
These rats are good at digging. They make long tunnels underground, which can be up to 45 meters (148 feet) long. Their burrows are usually 20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches) deep. They mark their home area with small piles of dirt, which are actually plugged entrances to their tunnels. These dirt piles can be 20 to 40 centimeters (8 to 16 inches) high.
Inside their burrow, they have a special room for their nest. This room is about 20 to 25 centimeters (8 to 10 inches) wide and is lined with soft bamboo leaves. They always have escape tunnels ready, just in case they need to get away quickly. These tunnels are loosely blocked with soil.
What do they eat? Mostly, they munch on bamboo shoots and roots. They usually find their food on the surface of the ground. After about a year, they might move to a new area if the food supply runs low. Some animals that hunt and eat Chinese bamboo rats include the snow leopard and the red panda.
Are Chinese Bamboo Rats in Danger?
The Chinese bamboo rat lives in a very large area and there are many of them in some places. Because of this, experts say they are of "least concern" for becoming endangered. This means they are not currently at high risk.
However, people do hunt these rats for food. In southern China, people have been raising Chinese bamboo rats on farms since the 1990s. This is done to provide meat for people to eat. By 2011, there were more than 30 million farmed rats in China! Most of these farms are in provinces like Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang.
Parasites of the Chinese Bamboo Rat
Scientists are still learning about the tiny creatures that can live on or inside Chinese bamboo rats, called parasites. Some tiny organisms, like Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis, have been found in them. A type of tiny worm called Trichinella spiralis has also been reported. In 2021, a study found that some farmed rats in Hunan Province had a parasite called Blastocystis sp. This parasite can sometimes spread from animals to humans.
