Global Courant 2023-05-13 19:00:59
With record-breaking storms wreaking havoc across the state, even rabbits need saving.
For months, a team from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been navigating the Central Valley in search of the rescue of stranded riparian forest rabbits, a small, brown and white creature listed as an endangered species, from the rising waters.
Using canoes and motorboats, the five team members navigated the rivers from dawn to dusk at the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge to rescue rabbits. Some are stranded on high ground, on bushes or trees. They are then carried to higher elevations as river water levels flood the region.
Surgeries in January and March rescued 286 rabbits, said Fumika Takahashi, a wildlife biologist at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which also includes the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge.
More surgeries are scheduled for next week.
“These rabbits are resilient, they bounce back, but every animal you save becomes important,” she said.
The rescue effort comes just months after the state endured one of its wettest winters in years.
This is reported by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the riparian rabbit was believed to be found only in Caswell Memorial State Park and near Lathrop. But at dangerously low numbers, the species was reintroduced to the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, about 75 miles northeast of San Jose.
“Riparian brush rabbits are particularly vulnerable to flooding because they live on the banks of rivers,” shelter manager Eric Hopson said in a statement. rack. “They only live in a small area and there aren’t many of them, so events like this can have a big impact on their population and recovery.”
Josh Hengel, a refugee biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, sets a rabbit trap. For months, a team from the conservation agency scoured the Central Valley to rescue the small brown and white creatures. During operations in January and March, 286 rabbits were brought to safety.
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Because they live near rivers, the animals have evolved to survive flooding, Takahashi said, but not for extended periods of time as they had to do this year.
“They’re actually really good at climbing on vegetation and can even swim short distances,” she said. “But when we have these big floods, there’s little high ground for them to escape to.”
Wildlife in the area has seen the San Joaquin River flood in the past, most recently in 2017. But climate change and the current landscape, with growing farms in the area, mean that the rabbit can no longer escape the highlands. Dikes around the river have cut off the escape route for rabbits and the floods have directly affected their habitat.
So officials created what are known as “bunny mounds,” or upland areas in flood-prone areas for the animals to escape to during floods. But these areas are also limited in food and can sometimes expose the rabbits to predators.
In January, 37 of the hillside rabbits were rescued. In March, 110 were found in the hills.
This year’s rescues were especially important for the endangered rabbits, given the sanctuary’s estimates that there are only 2,000 to 3,000 rabbits in the area, Takahashi said.
Biologists have tried to trap the rabbits and move them closer to drier land, at least four to five feet above the flood plain.
But they had to be careful that their rescue efforts didn’t exacerbate a growing problem among the population. Since May 2022, vets confirmed the bank brush rabbits have been affected by Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2, a highly contagious and deadly disease that has spread rapidly in the western United States.
To curb the spread, officials vaccinated all rescued rabbits. But officials are also concerned that having more rabbits in a smaller area could encourage the spread of the disease.
Changing the environment’s ecosystem, relocating the rabbits and increasing the concentration of their populations could also introduce other problems that have not yet been noticed, said Erin Hagen, director of restoration science for River Partners, a non-profit organization. for-profit organization that has worked with the resort to the rescues.
Officials are also concerned that climate change will make the area more prone to flooding.
“Even though they’re at a safe height, we’re not sure it’s been the needle to be on the other side and be completely safe,” Hagen said.
