It’s been about three months since we’ve seen a rabbit in the wild, but one of those is about to change.
A team of researchers is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the nearest rabbit farm, and they’re hoping to see what’s inside that animal in the coming months.
And if the rabbit doesn’t make it, they will.
“This rabbit is a little bit different,” says Dr. John Stokes, an expert in rabbit biology at the University of North Carolina.
“The thing that we’ve learned so far is that this rabbit has been in the environment a lot longer than most of our other rabbits.”
The Rabbit Run Project is a collaborative effort of the University at Buffalo, the University and the National Park Service.
The group has spent months gathering information on the rabbits’ lives and their natural habitat.
They’re also trying to understand how to best care for the rabbit.
“When we do a study on rabbits, we try to focus on the benefits and the consequences for the animals,” says University of Buffalo biologist Karen McArthur.
“What are the issues that we can look at with this rabbit?
How is it affecting the health of the rabbit?
And that’s why we have to understand the rabbit in terms of the ecosystem and what it’s doing and what we can do to help it.”
The team has been using a camera to document the rabbits life and environment for the last three years.
When they capture the footage, it is uploaded to the University’s video-sharing site YouTube.
When the rabbit is in their care, they have access to video feeds of their home and all the other animals around them.
When there’s a problem, they call in other animals for help.
When you watch a video of a rabbit, it can feel like a very real presence.
It’s a very human presence.
“We’ve been really happy to see the rabbit on YouTube, especially because it gives us the chance to interact with the rabbit and really get to know it,” says McArthur, who was not involved in the study.
She says that they can share the rabbit’s life and history with other members of the public who are interested in seeing how the rabbit interacts with people.
“You don’t see this stuff happening in nature,” she says.
“So it’s very exciting to see how much these animals can contribute.”
The project started with the University, but the University is partnering with other institutions in the area to take advantage of the rabbits presence and help them.
“It’s very important to understand that the rabbits are very good at getting along with other animals,” McArthur says.
They are also very good neighbors, and the study is taking place in a park where the rabbits have been known to interact.
They will be part of a long-term study to determine the best way to care for and monitor rabbits.
“They are the most social animals, and we’re trying to figure out what the best thing to do is to get these animals to live together in a safe and happy place,” McArthors research assistant, Stephanie O’Donnell, says.
If the rabbit does not make it to the sanctuary, the project is working on a plan for the animal to be released into the wild.
“One of the questions we’ve been asking ourselves is how do we do it safely and humanely?”
O’Dell says.
The research has taken them through the rabbit world and they have learned so much about what makes a good rabbit.
McArthur thinks that we have a long way to go before we know what the rabbit will do in the future.
“I think we have some ideas, and then we have time to work on them, and hopefully this rabbit will make it back to the wild,” she concludes.
“Rabbits have a very long history of being a very unique and unique animal.
We just need to continue to learn from it.”