Wildlifeof Thailand
Lesser Bamboo Rat
Spalacidae
Photo: Roadnottaken · CC BY-SA 3.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Cannomys badius
Basic stats
Diet
Bamboo roots, shoots and other underground plant parts
Habitat
Bamboo, forest edge and agricultural slopes
Range
Himalayan foothills through Myanmar and Thailand to Indochina
The lesser bamboo rat is a stocky burrowing rodent with tiny eyes and ears, powerful incisors, short limbs and a short nearly naked tail. Smooth pads on the feet help distinguish Cannomys from Rhizomys bamboo rats, whose pads are more granular (specialist bamboo-rat taxonomy; regional mammal guide).
Its range extends from Himalayan foothills through Myanmar and Thailand to Laos, Cambodia and northern Vietnam. It digs tunnel systems in bamboo, forest edges and cultivated slopes, feeding mainly on bamboo roots, shoots and other underground plant parts. Soil mounds often reveal its otherwise hidden presence (regional mammal guide). It is Nationally Near Threatened (Thailand Red Data 2025).
Quick answers
- What does the Lesser Bamboo Rat eat?
- Bamboo roots, shoots and other underground plant parts
- What habitat does the Lesser Bamboo Rat live in?
- Bamboo, forest edge and agricultural slopes
- Where is the Lesser Bamboo Rat found?
- Himalayan foothills through Myanmar and Thailand to Indochina