Skip to content
WAnimals
  • Map
  • Species
  • Parks
  • Diving
Log inCreate account
WAnimals

The guide for travellers and animal lovers: discover, plan and share your wild adventures around the world.

Discover wildlife

  • Species
  • Ecosystems
  • Glossary
  • Tags

Explore places

  • Map
  • Countries
  • Parks
  • Diving

Plan experiences

  • Guides

Learn

  • Blog

Resources

  • Help centre
  • Contact
  • Install the app

Follow us

Account

  • Log in
  • Create account

© 2026 WAnimals. All rights reserved.

About usHow we build our profilesTerms of servicePrivacyLegal notice
MapSpeciesParksDiving
  1. Home
  2. Species
  3. Giant Mole Rat

One of the 11 rats on WAnimals

Giant Mole Rat (Spalax giganteus)

Mammals · Rodentia · Spalacidae

Giant Mole Rat

Spalax giganteus

Vulnerable

At high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term.

Spotted something wrong?

The giant mole rat is the largest of the spalacids, burrowing rodents of eastern Europe and western Asia completely adapted to life underground. It has no external ears and no visible tail, and its tiny eyes are covered by skin: it is functionally blind. It digs with its incisors rather than its feet, and pushes the soil away with its head, forming mounds at the surface. It feeds on roots, bulbs and tubers, which it stores in underground chambers. Its populations are declining as the steppe is ploughed up.

Weight

700 g – 1 kg

Size

25 cm – 35 cm

Life expectancy

5 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Irregular activity

Active at irregular times, by day or night depending on circumstances.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Moderate

DesertGrassland
2countries1parks1featured routes

AI-generated images: illustrations, not photographs.

Fun facts

  • It is completely blind: its vestigial eyes, buried under the skin, no longer form images but retain the ability to detect light cycles and set its biological clock.
  • It navigates underground using the Earth's magnetic field, an ability demonstrated experimentally in the spalacids and very uncommon among mammals.

Life cycle and biology

Skeleton type
Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat and environment
Sandy and clay steppe and semi-desert of the northern Caucasus and western Kazakhstan
Litter / clutch size
3

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalax_giganteus

Where to find it

See its range on the interactive map→
Loading map…

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.

Where to see it

Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.

Related species

Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Giant Mole Rat — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.

Shares a park
Shares a park
Shares a park
Shares a park
Shares a park
Related to

How to help

The giant mole rat is classified as vulnerable. Organisations such as the IUCN, WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programmes is a good starting point if you want to get involved.

It's documented in 1 protected area — one reason why protecting these places matters for its conservation.

Keep exploring

Based on what we already know about giant mole rat.

Comments

Share an experience, a fun fact or a tip for seeing the giant mole rat.

Be the first to comment.

See full glossary
This page in other languages: Español · Deutsch · Français · Português · Italiano
Bale MountainsEthiopia
LeopardVulnerable

Leopard

Panthera pardus

Least Concern

Bush Hyrax

Heterohyrax brucei

Least Concern

Klipspringer

Oreotragus oreotragus

Wattled CraneVulnerable

Wattled Crane

Bugeranus carunculatus

African Golden WolfLeast Concern

African Golden Wolf

Canis anthus

Vulnerable

Steppe Tortoise

Testudo horsfieldii

CountriesKazakhstan
ParksBale MountainsEthiopia
TagsHerbivore
Herbivore
Variable activity
Solitary
Vulnerable
Desert
Grassland
Mammal
Kazakhstan
Russia