A baby pygmy rabbit is kept dry in warm pillow case. The rabbit will be tagged and released into the wild. Biologists are now attempting to breed the rabbits in their natural habitat. So far, it's been successful.
credit:
Courtney Flatt
Biologist Chad Eidson covers a burrow with a pillow case. Capturing the rabbits involves placing a dry-as-possible pillow case at one hole and running a plumbing snake attached to a tennis ball through the other hole.
credit:
Courtney Flatt
Tom Morris and Steph DeMay tag the pygmy rabbits. This way, reseachers can track how long the rabbits live in the wild and where they travel.
credit:
Courtney Flatt
WDFW research scientist Penny Becker gives directions on where to release the rabbits. During this release. volunteers are releasing the rabbits directly into the wild.
credit:
Courtney Flatt
WDFW's Gretchen Blatz releases a pygmy rabbit into its new burrow.
credit:
Courtney Flatt
Blatz waits a few minutes for the rabbit to get settled before removing the burlap from the ends of its burrow. This way, the rabbit won't run off right away.
credit:
Courtney Flatt
This is one of the pygmy rabbits still at the Oregon Zoo, where a captive-breeding program for the endangered animals is being phased out.
credit:
Vince Patton/OPB
These pens are still used to house pygmy rabbits at the Oregon Zoo. But limited success with captive breeding here has led to a decision to phase the program out.