Connecticut Cottontail Rabbit Endangered

There goes Peter Cottontail.

Once one of the most common critters to hop around Connecticut's forests and meadows, the little brown cottontail rabbit has nearly bounded its way on to the endangered species lists here and across New England, environmentalists say. 

So how did the animal kingdom's most enthusiastic breeder get into such a predicament?

For once, humans are only partly to blame. While development has crowded the cottontail out, the growth of mature forests is also the culprit. Rabbits thrive in young forests, making their homes in thickets and brush, which are not commonly found in mature forests. The disappearance of many of those areas has led to declining numbers of cottontails, according to the website the New England Cottontail.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in concert with the National Resources Conservation Service, are working to save the little bunny, the Connecticut Post reports.

"As recently as 1960, New England cottontails were found east of the Hudson River in New York, across all of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, north to southern Vermont and New Hampshire, and into southern Maine," the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says on its website. "Today, this rabbit's range has shrunk by about 86 percent. Its numbers are so greatly diminished that it can no longer be found in Vermont and has been reduced to only five smaller populations throughout its historic range."

The government is working with private landowners, re-establishing more cottontail-friendly habitats. Federal wildlife officials also are coordinating with zoos on breeding programs in an effort to keep the native rabbit off the federal endangered species list, a move that would bring more aggressive initiatives to save the animal from extinction.