Lower Keys marsh rabbit facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lower Keys marsh rabbit |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: | Sylvilagus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: |
S. p. hefneri
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| Trinomial name | |
| Sylvilagus palustris hefneri Lazell, 1984
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The Sylvilagus palustris hefneri, also known as the Lower Keys marsh rabbit, is a special kind of subspecies of marsh rabbit. It is an endangered animal, meaning it is at high risk of disappearing forever.
Contents
About the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit
The Lower Keys marsh rabbit was officially recognized as an endangered species on June 21, 1990. These rabbits live in the Florida Keys, which are very developed with many towns and buildings. This means they have a very small area to live in. This makes them more likely to face dangers like pollution, getting hit by cars, and being hunted by stray cats.
Scientists predicted in 1999 that these rabbits might disappear within 50 years if nothing changed. In 2008, other scientists said they could become extinct in just 10 years without help. They suggested that managing stray cats and restoring the marsh habitats are important ways to save these rabbits. There are only about 150 Lower Keys marsh rabbits left in the wild.
History of the Rabbit
This subspecies was first described in a science paper in 1984 by James D. Lazell Jr. The Lower Keys marsh rabbit was named in honor of Hugh M. Hefner. This was to thank him for the money his company gave to support research on these rabbits.
Size and Appearance
Lower Keys marsh rabbits are small to medium-sized. They are about 320 to 380 millimeters (about 12.5 to 15 inches) long. They weigh between 2.20 and 3.08 pounds. Their back feet are about 65 to 80 millimeters long, and their ears are about 45 to 62 millimeters long.
This rabbit is the smallest of the three types of marsh rabbits. The other two are the Sylvilagus palustris paludicola and Sylvilagus palustris palustris. Male and female Lower Keys marsh rabbits look very similar in size and appearance.
Their fur is short and dark brown, with a grayish-white belly. Their tails are dark brown. They are darker than the mainland marsh rabbit and the Upper Keys marsh rabbit. They also have slightly different skull features compared to the other marsh rabbits.
Where They Live
The Lower Keys marsh rabbit has become isolated in the Keys. This happened because sea levels rose and more people moved into the area. This isolation might have caused them to become a separate subspecies from the Upper Keys marsh rabbit.
In 1995, scientists found that their habitat was about 317 hectares (783 acres). This included 81 suitable places for them to live. By 1996, this area was refined to about 253 hectares (625 acres). An average rabbit's home range was about 0.32 hectares (0.79 acres) in 1999.
They live on a few of the larger Lower Keys. These include Boca Chica, Saddlebunch, Sugarloaf, and Big Pine Keys. They also live on small islands near these Keys. From 2001 to 2005, surveys showed that the average size of areas they lived in was about 2.1 hectares (5.2 acres).
Even though the search area increased, the number of rabbits did not. There was a loss of six habitat areas between 1988-1995 and 2001-2005. This loss might be due to stray cat attacks, rising sea levels, and storm surges from hurricanes.
Habitat
Lower Keys marsh rabbits choose specific places to live. They prefer higher ground within salt marshes or freshwater marshes. They rely on certain plants for food, shelter, and nesting. These plants include sawgrass, seashore dropseed, and cordgrass.
These rabbits like areas with lots of clump grass and ground cover. They also prefer areas with Borrichia frutescens plants. They like to be close to other marsh rabbit groups and large bodies of water.
Foraging (Finding Food)
Lower Keys marsh rabbits are picky eaters and choose specific plants. Their eating habits do not change based on whether they are male or female, or what time of year it is. The main plants found in the Keys include grasses, juicy herbs, sedges, and some sparse trees.
These rabbits eat many of these plants, but they especially love Borrichia frutescens. This plant is common in the middle of the salt marsh. The marsh rabbit spends most of its time eating in the middle and higher parts of the marsh.
Behavior
Scientists studied the daily habits of the Lower Keys marsh rabbit in 2006. They wanted to help conservationists know how to expand their habitat. They found that when these rabbits were in salty wetlands, they often gathered together in patches of saltmarsh or buttonwood trees. In freshwater wetlands, they clustered in patches of freshwater hardwood trees.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Lower Keys marsh rabbits have fewer babies compared to other marsh rabbits. They have about 3.7 litters per year, while other marsh rabbits have about 5.7 litters per year. They become old enough to have babies at about nine months old.
Researchers have found that most male rabbits leave their birth area around this time. However, female rabbits usually stay in their home range. These rabbits are polygamous, meaning one male mates with many females. They do not have a specific breeding season.
Threats to the Rabbit
The Lower Keys marsh rabbit is an endangered species. It faces many dangers, including:
- Habitat destruction: More than half of their suitable habitat has been destroyed. This is because of building houses, stores, roads, and other structures in the Lower Keys.
- Pollution: Trash dumping and off-road vehicles harm their habitat.
- Vehicular traffic: Rabbits get hit by cars on roads.
- Poaching: Illegal hunting is a threat.
- Predators: Free-roaming domestic cats and dogs, feral hogs, and fire ants hunt them.
- Invasive species: New animals like the Gambian pouched rat and different types of pythons are also new threats. However, the biggest threat from other animals is stray and free-roaming cats.
- Sea level rise: Rising ocean levels can flood their low-lying habitats.
- Exotic vegetation: Plants that are not native to the area can take over and destroy the rabbit's food and shelter.
Most of the remaining good habitat has been damaged by these problems.
Conservation Efforts
Many scientists are working hard to save the Lower Keys marsh rabbit. They are focusing on both the rabbits themselves and their habitats. One main way to help is by moving rabbits to areas that are empty but could be good homes for them.
Scientists have also created plans to improve and restore their habitats. This includes stopping harmful human activities, connecting isolated habitat areas, and removing things that block rabbit movement. They also use population analysis to help reduce conflicts between humans and wildlife.
Other ways to help save their habitat include:
- Protecting important wildlife corridors: These are paths of low marsh and mangroves that connect different rabbit groups. Protecting these areas helps the rabbits move safely.
- Removing invasive exotic plants: These plants kill the native plants that rabbits eat and use for shelter. Removing them helps restore the habitat.
- Fencing off areas: This prevents off-road vehicles and dumping in rabbit habitats.
- Improving habitat: Planting or encouraging native plant species helps provide food and shelter.
- Monitoring the rabbits: Keeping track of the rabbits and their environment helps scientists understand what they need. It also helps raise public awareness and encourage people to care for the habitat.
Actions to help the rabbits directly include:
- Studying habitats: Finding out why rabbits are present or absent in certain areas.
- Maintaining a database: Keeping all information about the rabbits organized.
- Reintroducing rabbits: Moving rabbits from healthy wild groups to new areas.
- Using federal laws: Making sure government activities do not harm the rabbit population.
- Controlling cat populations: Free-roaming cats are a major threat. Programs to control them near rabbit habitats can help rabbits survive and move into restored areas.
- Minimizing road deaths: Implementing slower speed limits and enforcing them, and controlling poaching, can help reduce rabbits being hit by cars.
Images for kids
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A Lower Keys marsh rabbit in its natural habitat.
