Rabbit species kept off endangered list

A rabbit species native to New England is not imperiled enough to warrant protection as an endangered species, federal officials ruled Friday.

New England cottontail, which inspired “The Adventures of Peter Cottontail” by Thornton Burgess, is sufficiently protected by a public-private partnership formed by farmers, biologists, wildlife specialists and others, and does not need listing under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) declared.

{mosads}Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, FWS Director Dan Ashe, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and others gathered in New Hampshire Friday to announce the finding.

“Thanks to the dedication of many partners, we can now say that future generations of Americans will know the cottontail — and not just through a character in children’s literature,” Jewell said in a statement.

“This is a great Endangered Species Act success story of how proactive conservation across a landscape can benefit not only the cottontail, but other wildlife, and people who rely on healthy New England forests,” she continued.

Ashe declared that the initiative “is a model for combining science, resources and public-private collaboration to advance the conservation of a species previously destined for federal protection.”

The FWS had agreed in 2011 to decide on the New England cottontail’s fate by Oct. 1, along with dozens of other species.

The program that caused the listing to be avoided was focused on restoring the habitats of the rabbit, which relies on young forests that had been largely eliminated due to development.

Restoring that habitat has also benefitted other animals that depend on it, such as hares, woodcocks and songbirds.

The cottontail’s range had dropped by about 86 percent since the 1960s, the FWS said.