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Wednesday 19 February 2025

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Aruban Cotton Tail, Aruba's Native Rabbit Species

Aruba’s native rabbit, the “greenwashing.” threats they face.
subspecies Aruban Cot-
ton Tail, is possibly at risk After discussions and ne- Silva explained that they
of extinction. In an effort gotiations, both parties have some ideas about
to save this endemic spe- agreed to proceed with the threats based on obser-
cies, the Aruba Conserva- the collaboration, and ACF vations in other countries,
tion Foundation (ACF) has received funding for three but she emphasized that
launched a project to pro- years. However, this is a human activity—especially
tect and collect more infor- project that ACF intends to the use of UTVs and ATVs—
mation about it. Natasha continue for decades. is a major issue, as many
Silva, Chief Conservation rabbits are found run over
Officer at ACF, explained Regarding the project and on roads.
in an interview with Aruba how the funding will be uti-
Today how they arrived at lized, Silva explained that it “With this in mind, we be-
this project, what the ob- will allow ACF to hire a ded- lieve we must conduct a
jectives are, and what they icated ranger for the proj- project where we collect
hope to achieve with it. ect, which is a significant all essential data on the
development. population, their habitat,
Silva explained that Aruba and from there, develop a
has its own rabbit, a sub- With this funding, ACF will plan to restore the habitat
species of the Eastern Cot- never collaborated with a also assess the rabbit pop- they depend on,” she said.
tontail. The Eastern Cot- “For the rabbit, we don’t hotel chain or a local hotel ulation, as current obser-
tontail species ranges from know how many remain, before, so before agreeing vations indicate a drastic Part of the project will also
southern Canada to Ven- and that was actually the to this partnership, they had decline. The project will include research on inva-
ezuela and Colombia. first question that led us to multiple discussions and include an educational sive species, such as the
realize we need to learn conducted research to aspect, recognizing that impact of boas on rab-
This subspecies inhabits more about the species, evaluate the hotel's com- many people in Aruba are bits and the effect of stray
only two islands, Aruba and whether they are doing mitment to sustainability, unaware of the existence dogs and cats, which Silva
Curaçao, and in Aruba, it is okay or not. We believe their progress in becoming of the native rabbit—some- highlighted as a grow-
known as the Aruban Cot- they are at risk of extinc- more sustainable, and their thing ACF acknowledges ing threat—possibly even
ton Tail. Its scientific name tion because we are see- future aspirations regarding as a failure on their part greater than boas—be-
also means "desert rabbit." ing fewer of them, and we sustainability and environ- due to a lack of sufficient cause the number of stray
The subspecies in Aruba are noticing that all threats mental conservation. public education. dogs and cats in nature is
and Curaçao have a black have increased, making increasing.
patch on their neck, distin- survival in Aruba much Based on criteria set by Another important aspect
guishing them from rabbits more difficult,” she said. ACF, they agreed to for- is data collection, as there “A plan will be developed
in other countries, making malize this collaboration. is currently a lack of infor- on how to manage these
them truly native to Aruba. She explained that a year One of the criteria was mation. The foundation threats. We are setting up a
ago, ACF worked on its that the partner must be does not have accurate long-term monitoring plan
Silva continued explaining Conservation Framework, serious about sustainability, knowledge of the rabbit to observe the rabbit popu-
that in the past, they were identifying priorities for the and another was that the population size, where they lation for a decade, to de-
abundant and could fre- next ten years. The frame- foundation did not want to live, what habitat they re- termine if it fluctuates, what
quently be spotted along work emphasized that pri- be involved in any form of quire, and what specific causes the fluctuations, or
the roads, but now there ority should be given to if habitat restoration efforts
are fewer, and sometimes native species, flora, and lead to an increase in rab-
only one may be seen in a fauna. The foundation bit populations in restored
year within Arikok National identified key species, and areas,” she stated.
Park, a protected area. the rabbit was included on
She noted that there are the list. Finally, she emphasized
other locations on the is- that as part of this project,
land where they are found, This project is a collabora- educational programs will
but their numbers appear tion with the Riu Interna- also be implemented to
to be significantly lower tional hotel chain, which inform the general public
than before. This decline approached ACF over a about Aruba’s native rab-
concerns the foundation, year ago to establish a bit.
as it is important to monitor multi-year project with the
native biodiversity to deter- foundation. Picture credit: Aruba Birdlife
mine whether they are at Conservation.
risk of extinction. Silva noted that ACF had