- New England Cottontail
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New England Cottontail[1] 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Lagomorpha Family: Leporidae Genus: Sylvilagus Species: S. transitionalis Binomial name Sylvilagus transitionalis
(Bangs, 1895)
New England Cottontail range The New England Cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) is a species of cottontail rabbit represented by fragmented populations in areas of New England, specifically from southern Maine to southern New York.[3] This species bears a close resemblance to the Eastern Cottontail, but this species retains its brown color during winter, making it easy prey to coyotes and owls when it cannot find adequate habitat cover.[4]
Populations have declined by 86 percent over the past 50 years.[4] Because of this decrease in this species' numbers and habitat, the New England Cottontail is currently a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Cottontail hunting has been restricted in some areas where the Eastern and New England Cottontail species coexist to protect the remaining New England Cottontail population.[5]
Rabbits require habitat patches of at least 12 acres to maintain a stable population. In New Hampshire, the number of suitable patches dropped from 20 to 8 in the early 2000's. The ideal habitat is 25 acres of continuous early successional habitat within a larger landscape that provides shrub wetlands and dense thickets. Federal funding has been used for habitat restoration work on state lands, including the planting of shrubs and other growth critical to the rabbit's habitat. Funding has also been made available to private landowners who are willing to create thicket-type brush habitat which doesn't have much economic value.[4]
References
- ^ Hoffman, Robert S.; Smith, Andrew T. (16 November 2005). "Order Lagomorpha (pp. 185-211". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 211. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
- ^ Barry, R., Lazell, J. & Litvaitis, J. (2008). "Sylvilagus transitionalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/21212. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
- ^ Marianne K. Litvaitis; John A. Litvaitis. (Winter, 1996) Using Mitochondrial DNA to Inventory the Distribution of Remnant Populations of New England Cottontails. Wildlife Society Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 4. pp. 725-730
- ^ a b c Keefe, Jennifer (April 24, 2011). "Cottontail gets help with habitat restoration". Foster's Daily Democrat. http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110424/GJNEWS_01/704249904. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
- ^ Hunting Small game in New Hampshire - N.H. Fish and Game
External links
Categories:- IUCN Red List vulnerable species
- Sylvilagus
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