Yarkand hare

The Yarkand hare, Lepus yarkandensis, is a small hare, measuring 285 to 430 millimetres in length and weighing 1.1 to 1.9 kilograms. It has soft, straight, sandy brown dorsal fur with grayish-black stripes and completely white underparts, and it is told from the desert hare by the lack of black near the tips of the ears and by its smaller size and thinner legs. Endemic to China, it is restricted to the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, where about 200,000 individuals are estimated to live. It is mainly nocturnal, generally out in the early morning or late evening, and forages on grass and crops. The female produces two or three litters a year of two to five young. It is rated near threatened by the IUCN and by the Red List of China's Vertebrates, though Chinese geneticists have called it endangered because of its limited and fragmented habitat and over-hunting and poaching.