New England cottontail needs intervention to avoid extinction

Published: Friday, March 29, 2013

By Kathryn Boughton

There is a little irony in this story—it’s about an animal so noted for its fecundity that the trait has become a cliché, and yet it now needs human intervention to avoid becoming an endangered species.

“We can utilize that [fecundity] to our advantage,” said research director James Fischer at the White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield. “If we are going to try to save something, let’s work with something that can reproduce, well, like a rabbit.”

The rabbit in question is a shy little woodland bunny specifically designated as the New England cottontail, a species easily confused with its close relative, the Eastern cottontail.

Mr. Fischer said the two species are difficult to differentiate and are distinguishable only by such characteristics as skull formation, the size of their ears—New England rabbits have slightly smaller ears—and a white spot on the head that is more characteristic of the Eastern cottontail.

But there are two factors that clearly separate the two strains. A viable population of New England cottontails demands a habitat of at least 25 acres of dense undergrowth found in early successional forests, while their cousins are more opportunistic, making do with smaller patches of brush common in areas of dense human population.

As a result, the less choosy Eastern cottontail is thriving, while New England cottontail numbers are dipping to dangerous levels.

This is particularly worrisome, according to Mr. Fischer, because the New England cottontail is the Northeast’s only indigenous rabbit. Its range has declined 86 percent since the mid-20th century, a situation created by competition with the non-native Eastern cottontail and loss of brushy habitats, and it is a candidate for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act,

“It’s a challenge,” said Mr. Fischer. “We could lose our only indigenous rabbit. There is a chance it will become so rare it will need designation as an endangered species—that it will become so rare we can’t intervene enough to save it.”

Continued:  http://www.foothillsmediagroup.com/articles/2013/03/29/litchfield/news/doc5155fb36f39ac959452917.txt