New England cottontail

The New England cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis, also known as the gray rabbit, wood hare, wood rabbit or cooney, is a cottontail rabbit that occurs in fragmented populations across New England and the state of New York, from southern Maine to southern New York. It closely resembles the eastern cottontail, which has been introduced across much of its home range and is now more common there. A 2006 estimate put its area of occupancy at 12,180 square kilometres, some 86 percent less than in 1960, and habitat destruction has limited its range to under 25 percent of its historic range. Rabbits need habitat patches of at least 12 acres to maintain a stable population, and the ideal habitat is 25 acres of continuous early successional habitat with shrub wetlands and dense thickets. It is a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act, cottontail hunting has been restricted where it coexists with the eastern cottontail, and federal funding supports habitat restoration.