The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Kittery is the first refuge in Maine to host New England cottontails after dozens of the rabbits were released there this year. New England cottontails are a protected species in Maine and conservationists say there are only 320 left, but there is evidence the species is rebounding.
In September, volunteers planted 700 native plants on Cutts Island in Kittery as part of the refuge's program to restore New England cottontail habitat. It's been a 10-year process.
Refuge Wildlife Biologist Kate O'Brien says vanishing habitat caused the once prolific species to decline over decades, but with help the population of the threatened rabbits is growing again.
"Since we've started managing habitat and working with our partners, they've started to uptick significantly, they're coming back to areas where they've gone vacant. They are recolonizing areas. There are still stretches of landscape where they're still missing from entire towns, but they are starting to make their way back," O'Brien says.
Maine is part of The New England Cottontail Conservation Initiative, a coalition of six states that are working together to augment the rabbits' population. Two remote islands dedicated to wild New England cottontail reproduction and several captive breeding facilities provide rabbits for relocation.
