A Review of the Ongoing Decline of the White-Tailed Jackrabbit

Abstract

The distribution and abundance of the white-tailed jackrabbit Lepus townsendii have declined significantly since 1950, continuing a trend that began in some regions of its range in the late 1800s. We reviewed museum records and the literature to evaluate the status of the white-tailed jackrabbit in each state and province in its historical range and evaluated possible reasons for its decline. Our evaluation revealed its extirpation or decline throughout much of its range, but its legal or conservation status does generally not reflect this precarious status. We note its extirpation in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and potential extirpation in British Columbia, Oregon, Illinois, and Wisconsin. We classified the white-tailed jackrabbit to be broadly extirpated in Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, Nebraska and California, and declining with local extirpations in Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and South Dakota. We consider it to be a relict in Ontario, and possibly declining in Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Idaho, and Montana. We consider only Manitoba to have a possibly stable population. Determining the reasons for the species' reduced distribution is difficult, as the decline appears to be due to multiple factors, none of which provide a universal explanation. We dismissed road kills, recreational hunting, disease and parasites, and competition with black-tailed jackrabbits Lepus californicus as causes of the widespread population declines and extirpations. We concluded that habitat alterations and climate change are overriding factors, and that past depredation measures and increased predator populations have likely contributed to the decline. These hypotheses require further testing. We recommend more research on the distribution, abundance, ecology, and population dynamics of white-tailed jackrabbits, and management that includes a frank appraisal of the species' status, the potential for grassland restoration, and programs to reintroduce populations into prairie preserves and restored grasslands.

Engaging stakeholders in wildlife disease management: Hunters' willingness to adopt and support biosecurity actions to prevent the spread of rabbit hemorrhagic disease

“…RHDV2 has infected 8 wild lagomorph species, including the endangered riparian brush rabbit ( Sylvilagus bachmani riparius ), and poses a risk to all 15 native lagomorph species in the United States. RHDV2 is likely to place additional strain on both imperiled (e.g., white‐tailed jack rabbits Lepus townsendii ; Brown et al, 2020) and once common lagomorph species (e.g., cottontail rabbits in Wyoming; Corr, 2022) whose populations are threatened by habitat loss, increasing predator populations, climate change, and species invasions (Bosch et al, 2016; Diefenbach et al, 2016; McCleery et al, 2015). Moreover, RHDV2 poses a threat to hunting.…”