Bavarian pine vole

“The Bavarian pine vole is tiny, measuring only 10cm in length and weighing around 18-28g . . . The animals live in underground passageway and are herbivores, feeding on roots, grasses and herbs.” They are endemic to the Northern Limestone Alps in Austria and parts of southern Bavaria where they play an important role in the ecosystem by dispersing seeds, and are important food sources for predators. The species was first discovered in 1962, and its range at that time was likely already severely restricted due to forest fragmentation. It was rarely sighted after 1970. “In the 1980s, a hospital was built on the area where it was originally found, effectively destroying the species’ only known habitat. After fruitless searches, scientists declared the Bavarian pine vole extinct . . . In 2004, decades after its first sighting, Friederike Spitzenberger from the Natural History Museum of Vienna rediscovered the tiny species in Austria . . . The only known population of this species lives in a few hectares of northern Tyrol near the German-Austrian border. Its habitat is a montane, mixed open forest with several wild streams. Although naturally managed at the time of the vole’s rediscovery, much of this wooded area has been cleared for cattle grazing. The remaining forest is unprotected and threatened by logging.”