omiltemi cottontail rabbit

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Omiltemi Cottontail Rabbit
Scientific Name: SYLVILAGUS INSONUSLast Seen: EARLY 1900s IN MEXICOYear Found: TBDYears Lost: over 120 yearsRed List Status: Data Deficient

This is one of the most endangered rabbits in the world as the result of poaching and habitat destruction. The species, which likely lives in a small, semi-isolated mountain range in the Sierra Madre del Sur, Guerrero, Mexico, is known from only four individuals, the most recent just a skin donated by local hunters in 1998. There are no known photos of this species.

Between August and November of 2019, a team of researchers and local guides set out to look for the rabbit on several multi-day expeditions. Although they didn’t find the animal then, they plan to continue the search in Omiltemi and four other villages, using camera traps and DNA from dung to obtain evidence that the species is still around.

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