State employees recommend keeping rabbit on endangered list

PASCO – The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on a review of whether to continue to list the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit on the endangered species list.

"The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit was considered extinct in Washington by 2004 but has since been reintroduced through captive breeding and translocation programs," state biologist Gerald Hayes said.

According to Hayes, the agency is recommending the rabbit remain listed as endangered.

The pygmy rabbit is the smallest of its species in North America. It is found in Eastern Washington's sage brush and scablands.

Comments on the review and push pygmy rabbits on the list are due by Aug. 27.

A draft of the review is available online at https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02507.

Written comments may be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, ATTN: Taylor Cotten, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, WA 98504.

Once the review is completed, the agency is expected in the fall to recommend approval of its draft plan to the state Fish and Wildlife Commission.