A small hamster of sandy habitats in Mongolia and northern China.
Its back is light brown without a dark central stripe. White patches appear above the eyes.
Wild Roborovski hamsters in China’s Alashan Desert spent longer above ground and on foraging walks when the visible moon disk was larger, a field study found. Researchers fitted small passive tags in the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2012, then placed RFID readers and photosensors at burrow entrances to record each animal’s movements in and out.
The same records linked higher ambient and soil temperatures with shorter activity periods. By comparing the moon’s changing disk with air and ground temperatures, the researchers traced how several features of a desert night related to the hamsters’ schedule. The study followed wild animals at one desert site across three summers.
Mongolian Red List of Mammals (IUCN criteria) · Least Concern (LC) · Mongolian national assessment (2006; report also records a global category)
The 2006 Mongolian Red List of Mammals classified the Roborovski hamster as Least Concern both globally and within Mongolia. Its rationale cited a wide distribution and large population, with no decline detected at the time. The report estimated that about 18% of the species’ range in Mongolia lay within protected areas. It listed possible habitat degradation from increasing livestock grazing, noting that further evidence was needed, and also mentioned drying water sources and drought. The report said it was unclear whether water loss reflected natural environmental change or human activity.