Roger Williams Park Zoo scientists together with regional partners formed the Captive Breeding Working Group as one potential solution for saving the New England cottontail. The NECCBWG membership continues to inform and guide the process of transition from the breeding phase through re-population efforts.

By 2010, RWPZ had dedicated space, staff, and veterinary care for the breeding program. It continues to provide expertise to sustain a supply of healthy captive-born rabbits for the reintroduction and population augmentation initiative. Partners in the northeast include Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and New York continue to provide wild adult cottontails for the breeding program. These are “founder” rabbits that produce offspring for reintroduction efforts and population augmentation. The University of Rhode Island and the University of New Hampshire perform genetic testing to confirm they are indeed New England cottontails before they are added to the breeding program.

“To try to rebuild a species, we first needed to learn if we could keep healthy individuals in captivity,” said Lou Perrotti, Director of Conservation Programs at Roger Williams Park Zoo. “We’ve learned that we can. We’ve also learned that we can successfully breed wild animals in captivity and raise the young from birth through weaning. Now, we’re testing whether the captive-born babies can be released to a wild setting and survive the winter and produce self-sustaining and growing populations.”

In November 2011, the offspring, or kits, of the first founders were released at age three-to-four months at Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge in southern Rhode Island. They were placed in a one-acre habitat surrounded by predator-proof fencing to allow them to become acclimated to a natural environment without predation pressure. The offspring spent their first winter adjusting from living at the Zoo to living in the wild, learning to forage and fend for themselves in a predator-free environment. That year 11 rabbit kits were born in captivity.

In March of 2012, some of the rabbits were fitted with radio collars and released into the wild on Patience Island, in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. Their activity and health were monitored to see if they survived and reproduced. Other captive-born rabbits were brought back to the Zoo and added to the breeding group. Additional groups of kits were released in July and September onto Patience Island. A small group also was sent to Great Bay, New Hampshire, to build new populations and augment declining populations in that state.

As of November 2012, more than half of the radio fitted rabbits were still alive, which meant they were successfully foraging and avoiding predators. The partners celebrated this as a successful result for a prey species. That year 28 kits were captive born.

During 2013 and 2014, the breeding and release program grew significantly, nearly doubling numbers achieved in each of the previous years, with young rabbits released in Rhode Island and New Hampshire to augment those populations. 2013 had 41 kits born in captivity, and 38 kits were captive-born the following year.

With the Rhode Island Foundation providing an initial $15,000, and continued federal funding through the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid Wildlife Restoration Program, administered by The Wildlife Management Institute, the breeding facilities were expanded in 2014.

In 2015, the team partnered with the Queens Zoo in New York as a second breeding facility, hoping that this larger capacity would result in a significantly higher birth rate each year. 2015 saw 22 captive-born rabbits and that number rose to 35 in 2016.

As of 2022, more than 340 young rabbits have been introduced to the wild in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine.

This collaborative project aims to help restore sustainable cottontail populations. “The wide-range effort to save this native animal depends on the expertise and collaboration of partners like those involved in this project,” says Anthony Tur, endangered species specialist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. “Thanks to the dedication of the Zoo staff and others, we are now prepared to expand the program to achieve meaningful conservation goals for the cottontail.”

The Working Group partners aim to expand and manage the early successional habitat needed for this species, working in some cases with private landowners. Then, the captive breeding program will continue with the Zoo, with a goal to significantly increase the number of captive-born rabbits produced each year.

2013

New Hampshire Fish and Game Honor

2015

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Conservation Award

2019

AZA North American Conservation Award

2020

U.S. Fish & Wildlife named Lou Perrotti as a 2020 Recovery Champion

Committed to preserving and protecting our environment.

• CT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
• MAINE DEPARTMENT OF INLAND FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE
• MA DIVISION OF FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE
• NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION
• NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE
• NH FISH AND GAME
• NY STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
• RI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
• US FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE
• UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
• UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
• WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
• ROGER WILLIAMS PARK STAFF
• RI ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS