Wild Rabbits Disappearing from City Parks

CITY -WIDE

NEW YORK -- If anyone knows why the bunnies have disappeared from Central Park, wildlife officials are all ears, according to The Washington Post.

Though abandoned pet rabbits perennially turn up after each Easter in what's affectionately called New York's backyard, a wild cottontail hasn't been spotted in the park for about four years.

"I've been here for 17 years, and there were not many when I got here," Regina Alvarez, director of horticulture for the Central Park Conservancy, a nonprofit that manages the huge Manhattan park for the city, said in an e-mail. "But I would see them once in a while."

Only time will tell if they are gone for good, said Sarah Aucoin, director of Urban Park Rangers for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Cottontails seek habitats with lots of food sources and thick brush for protection, so it's possible there are still some hiding out. Rabbits have lived on the land since before the park was established 161 years ago.

Because bunnies "mate like rabbits," if there are still a few, "we'll see an increase, definitely," Aucoin said.

Geoffrey Croft, of the watchdog group NYC Park Advocates, said at least two other New York City parks have seen rabbits disappear in recent years.

The Eastern Cottontail used to be plentiful on Randall's Island, between the Harlem and East rivers, but Croft said the population there vanished as its parkland was rehabilitated and redeveloped, and some natural fields were replaced with artificial turf.

Rabbits have also disappeared from Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn near Coney Island, he said.

Bunnies are vulnerable to a number of hazards, including weather, predators and automobiles - all features of urban parks, said state wildlife biologist Alan Hicks.

In NY's Central Park, where goes Peter Cottontail?

The Washington Post Via The Associated Press - April 3, 2010 - By Megan K. Scott