The riparian brush rabbit population had dwindled when their habitat was destroyed for farming and urban development. Then, from 1997 to 2004, a series of natural disasters decimated their already low population.

But now, Kelly and his team have been steadily releasing 100-150 rabbits back into the wild. There, they are successfully breeding.

For more information see:
Recordnet.com
Endangered Species Recovery Program

The New England cottontail is Maine’s only native rabbit, and it’s on the state’s endangered species list. I mentioned in a previous post how forest growth and habitat fragmentation had curbed the New England cottontail’s population. A further threat has been competition with a larger, sharper-eyed non-native rabbit, the Eastern cottontail. These rabbits were introduced to the area in the 1920s by state wildlife management agencies and private hunting clubs to increase game populations.

As a result, the York Land Trust has decided their wildlife mascot for 2009 will be the New England cottontail, and they are working to preserve an area in York that includes scrubby brush, a prime habitat for the cottontails. They may also supplement the area, which used to be a golf course, by building burrows and adding more brush piles.

For more information see:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090225-NEWS-902250336
http://www.yorklandtrust.org/

The program to breed the rabbits will most likely come to an end this year as there are no Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits left in the wild, and the last purebred rabbit died in captivity. According to Chris Warren, who runs the program, genetically speaking, Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits are now extinct.

In 2010, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will focus on introducing pygmy rabbits from Idaho into the area.

For more information: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_pygmy_rabbits.html

For more information:
90-Day Finding on a Petition To List the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) as Threatened or Endangered
Feds to Mull Protection for Pygmy Rabbit