Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office

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Species Account

RIPARIAN BRUSH RABBIT

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STATUS: Endangered. This means the species is in danger of dying out. We are working hard to prevent this. We are raising bunnies in a place where they are safe from predators. Visit our recovery page.

In December 2005, we released more than two dozen rabbits into the wild. The releases were on a ranch near the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is west of Modesto. News Release.

DESCRIPTION: The riparian brush rabbit is a medium to small cottontail. Its back is dark brown to gray. Its belly is white.

Adults are about 30 to 37.5 centimeters long. (11 to 14 inches) They weigh 500 to 800 grams. (1.1 to 1.8 pounds)

Have you seen desert cottontails? (They don't always live in the desert.) Brush rabbits have smaller tails. Desert cottontails' ears have black tips. Brush rabbits' ears don't. See side by side pictures by Laurissa Hamilton.

FOOD: Grasses, clover, other plants, shoots and leaves. Green clover is their favorite food.

HABITAT: Riparian brush rabbits live by rivers. They live in thickets of willows, wild rose bushes, blackberry, coyote bushes and wild grape vines.

MATING: Riparian brush rabbits breed from around January to May. Litters average 3 or 4 babies. Each female has three or four litters per year.

PREDATORS: Hawks and owls. Dogs, foxes and coyotes. House cats and bobcats. Weasels, raccoons and snakes. No wonder bunnies stay in the bushes as much as they can.

RANGE: Very few bunnies live in the wild. Some live at Caswell Memorial State Park. Others live along an overflow channel of the San Joaquin River.

We are now putting rabbits back in places the used to live. See the news releases in More Reading below.

THREATS: About 90% of the places riparian brush rabbits live have been destroyed. Some of the things that did this are the growth of cities and farms, flood control and dams.

Floods are a danger. This is true even though the rabbits can climb trees!

MORE READING:

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions ("FAQs") page.

News Releases:

12/12/05 Captive-bred endangered rabbits released on privately owned habitat.

8/1/02 Young rabbits from captive-breeding program released into the wild.

3/27/02 New captive-breeding program has rare central valley rabbit hopping onto the comeback trail.

Visit the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Kid's Corner to learn more about endangered species.

Photo credits: Picture at top of page by Heather Bell, USFWS. Linked photos by Laurissa Hamilton, a biologist with the Endangered Species Recovery Program.

Contact us: Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825
Phone (916) 414-6600 ~ FAX (916) 414-6713

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