The endangered riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about 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
