In a very eye-opening slide show, Scientific American revealed that 30% of the world’s rabbit species are at risk. The slide show profiled 6 species of wild rabbit and 1 species of hare in danger of extinction in their native habitats. Included are the European rabbit, Amami rabbit, hispid hare, lower keys marsh rabbit, New England cottontail, volcano rabbit, and pygmy rabbit.
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/
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