IT MAY be just a mouse, but this little rodent is at the centre of a bitter conservation row. At stake are its future, and the proposed development of a prime piece of multimillion-dollar US real estate. More fundamentally, the row represents a high-profile test of governments’ ability to use genetic data to help decide whether animal populations are entitled to legal protection.
The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) belongs to a group of humble-looking rodents noted for their ability to leap up to half a metre into the air. In the 1950s, Preble’s was designated a…
