The role of the increasing rodent population in grassland degradation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) is the subject of continuing debate. We conducted a five-year grazing experiment to investigate the responses of soil permeability to livestock grazing and subterranean plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyi) burrowing activity in grasslands. In addition, using a meta-analysis approach, we generalized the effects of livestock grazing on soil permeability in global grasslands. The objective was to test the hypothesis that underground soil disturbance by burrowing mammals helps to improve the permeability of soil that has been compacted by trampling from grazing livestock. In the grazing experiment, soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) in the upper 10 cm layer under livestock grazing (47.9 mm h−1) was less than one half of that under no grazing (116.8 mm h−1) in zokor-excluded plots. The Ksat value on zokor mounds (>two years old) (313.6 mm h−1) was eight times greater than that of inter-mound areas (38.5 mm h−1) in livestock-grazed plots. These contrasting effects on soil permeability of livestock grazing and subterranean zokor disturbance were ascribed to their opposite effects on soil macroporosity. Meta-analysis indicated that livestock grazing significantly decreased soil Ksat or steady infiltration rate in global grasslands by decreasing soil macroporosity, across grazing intensities, strategies, durations and climatic features, compared with no grazing. As such, the decreased soil permeability in grazed compared with non-grazed grasslands was a global generality. This research provided new insight into the ecohydrological function of subterranean mammals in pastures. The potential beneficial effects to soil permeability should be among the consideration for the management of subterranean mammals in grazed grasslands.