Present Status and Conservation of the Endangered Amami Rabbit Pentalagus furnessi.

Abstract

The Amami :abbit Pentalagus furnessi is an endemic species of the central Ryukyus, Japan, and occurs only on two islands, Amami Oshima I. and Tokunoshima I. For the conservation of this species, some research programs to reveal the population size, spatial and temporal patterns of activity, and impacts of introduced predators were carried out. The habitat available to the rabbit has obviously been reducing with considerable fragmentation on each island, and size of each population also seems to have been decreasing as well (2700-65@ in total of the two islands in 1995). The estimated home range size was relatively small (1..3 ha for males andl.2 ha for females), and the rabbits moved 100-2m m from their bunows mainly during the night. The negative impact of the introduced mongoose on the rabbit was quite serious on Amami Oshima I., and effective control of this exotic predator is an urgent necessity for the conservation of the rabbit, as well as the whole ecosystem, of this island. Key word: Amami rabbit / conservation / population size / home range / impact of introduced predator The Amami rabbit Pentalagus furnessi is one of the most primitive lagomorphs, and occurs only on two islands, Amami Oshima I. (710 km2) and Tokunoshima I. (250 tm2; in the central part of the Ryukyu Island Chain, southern Japan (Figs. l, 2). The rabbit was designated as a Natural Monument by the National Government in I92l and was raised to a Special Natural Monument by the National Government in 1963. The species was also classified to the endangered category of the IUCN Red List in 1996. However, little attention has been paid to the conservation of the rabbit, and relatively few relevant studies have been conducted so far. In L9f), the Iagomorph Specialist Group (ISG) of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of IUCN prepared an Action Plan for the endangered lagomorph taxa including the monotypic Pentalagus. Since 1.992, we have been conducting some