Hunting News

New project asks citizens to report rabbit sightings

New project asks citizens to report rabbit sightings

By New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

A new citizen science project in New Hampshire is asking citizens to act as scientists and submit information and photographs of any rabbit they see.

NH Rabbit Reports is sponsored by University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and the Fish and Game Department, with the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire. The group is seeking volunteer participants to collect data, take photos and report sightings of rabbits throughout the state.

Anyone can participate, and rabbit sightings will help the NH Rabbit Reports team learn more about where rabbit species are located in the state.

No species identification skills required. Citizens can use a smartphone or computer to submit sighting to NH Rabbit Reports at to https://nhrabbitreports.org/.

"Many potentially useful observations of wildlife are made by homeowners, birders, hunters, natural resource professionals and general nature lovers," says Haley Andreozzi, wildlife outreach coordinator for UNH Cooperative Extension and a NH Rabbit Reports team member.

"Through NH Rabbit Reports, citizen scientists can report their rabbit sightings to help biologists assess the distribution and status of New Hampshire's rabbit species and evaluate appropriate conservation strategies."
New Hampshire is home to two species of rabbits, the eastern cottontail and the New England cottontail, and one species of hare, the snowshoe hare.

The sighting information will help researchers understand the distribution and potential abundance of these species in the state. By understanding the relationship between the distributions of the two rabbit species, organizations and state agencies can make informed decisions about habitat management. This is vital for rabbit species, particularly for the New England cottontail, which is classified as a state-endangered species.

"It is difficult for us to find the time and resources needed to collect distribution information about eastern cottontail rabbits in New Hampshire," said Heidi Holman, a wildlife biologist who coordinates Fish and Game’s New England cottontail restoration efforts. "We have received assistance from trained volunteers and dozens of phone calls every year from the people of New Hampshire reporting the rabbits they see. The Rabbit Reports website will give us the opportunity to build a map and database of all this information to communicate the results of this work."

To learn more about the study, visit here.

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