5 Year Species Review Riparian Brush Rabbit Sylvilagus

5 -Year Species Review: Riparian Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani riparius) Fish and Game Commission Meeting June 24 - 25, 2020 Daniel Applebee Nongame Wildlife Program

Riparian Brush Rabbit Background • • • Listed as Endangered by Commission 1994 Listed as Endangered by USFWS 2000 Inhabit dense riparian shrubs, vines and trees Eat shrubs, forbs, grasses Relatively low reproductive capacity

Riparian Brush Rabbit Distribution

Riparian Brush Rabbit Identified Threats • • • Habitat Loss Habitat Fragmentation Flooding Disease Wildfires Predation Small Populations Climate Change Rodenticides

Riparian Brush Rabbit Threats - Floods • All detections within 100 year flood zone • Periodic flood events projected to become more frequent and extreme with climate changes • Past floods resulted in dramatic population declines

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Serotype 2 • Significant new threat • Highly infectious • High mortality • Rapid spread • CDFW Response plan

Riparian Brush Rabbit Findings and Recommendation • The Department finds the conditions that led to the listing of the riparian brush rabbit as endangered are still present, and additional threats have emerged. • The subspecies is threatened by catastrophic floods, wildfires, diseases, threats related to small populations, predation, rodenticides, and climate change impacts. • The Department recommends no change to the status of riparian brush rabbit on the list of endangered species at this time.

Questions Thank You Daniel Applebee Nongame Wildlife Program Daniel. Applebee@wildlife. ca. gov (916) 373 -6634

Riparian Brush Rabbit 5 -Year Status Review • • Listed as endangered by the Commission in 1994 Additional populations have been discovered and a captive propagation and translocation program increased the population and distribution. Although the population and range have expanded, the threats identified at the time of listing remain, and new threats have emerged. The Department recommends that the status of the species remains unchanged.