The current range and distribution of the common hamster, Cricetus cricetus in Poland was established. The range of the species has dwindled substantially in the course of just 30 years and the process is still going on. The Polish populations are isolated from the Belarussian, Czech and German ones, there is low probability of some exchange with Ukrainian hamsters. Moreover, two main areas of hamster distribution in Poland are isolated from each other. In view of the marked shrinkage and fragmentation of the range, we propose changing the status of this species in Poland from unknown (DD) to endangered (EN).