U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office
External Affairs Program

02-082

Contact:
Jim Nickles, 916/414-6572, 916/501-6885 (cell)

YOUNG RABBITS FROM CAPTIVE-BREEDING PROGRAM RELEASED INTO THE WILD
The endangered riparian brush rabbit has taken the next hop onto the comeback trail.

Biologists for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Endangered Species Recovery Program at California State University, Stanislaus, this week released eight young rabbits bred in captivity into restored habitat areas along the San Joaquin River west of Modesto, Calif.

The riparian brush rabbit, listed as endangered since early 2000, is the first federally protected mammal native to California to be bred in captivity for reintroduction. Forty-four rabbits have been born at the captive-breeding facility south of Sacramento. Ultimately, all will be released into the wild.

Historically, these elusive animals inhabited dense forests along major streams flowing onto the floor of the northern San Joaquin Valley. But more than 90 percent of the forests along Central Valley rivers have been lost to urban, commercial, and agricultural development. Today, the only known populations of the riparian brush rabbit are confined to Caswell Memorial State Park on the Stanislaus River and along an overflow channel of the San Joaquin River.

The species was almost wiped out in the winters of 1997 and 1998, when floods inundated its habitat for prolonged periods. The Service hopes to establish new, self-sustaining populations at the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge and other publicly owned lands in the region.

"We are gratified by the success of the program, which shows that we can recover endangered species in a way that is compatible with agriculture and other land uses in the Central Valley," said Steve Thompson, Manager of the Service’s California/Nevada Operations Office. "Not only are we saving a species on the brink of extinction, but we’re restoring riparian forests that are critical to a wide array of wildlife. And we’re working to be good neighbors to surrounding landowners."

The rabbits are released into 1-acre enclosures in the forested areas. The pens will acclimate the animals to their new surroundings and protect them from predators, and will eventually be removed. The riparian brush rabbit, with dark brown to gray overfur and white fur underneath, is a small cottontail, about a foot long and weighing no more than a pound.

The captive-breeding project is a joint-venture of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Endangered Species Recovery Program, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the state departments of Parks and Recreation, Fish and Game, and Water Resources.

The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is west of Modesto within the historic flood plains of the San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers. The refuge, part of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex, now covers some 6,642 acres and eventually could grow to more than 12,000 acres. The refuge played a key role in the recovery and de-listing in 2001 of the Aleutian Canada goose.

More information on the riparian-brush rabbit, including photos and fact sheets, is available at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office’s Web page, at http://www.fws.gov/sacramento.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

Field Notes
Questions and Answers
Bunny Web Page
Previous News Release (3/27/02)

Top of Page

Home Page for News Releases