Berger retracts claim of rabbit’s disappearance from Yellowstone
Biologists dispute Joel Berger’s article proclaiming there are no more white-tailed jack rabbits in Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks
March 6, 2008
The website Magicvalley.com, an online division of the Times-News published daily in Twin Falls, Idaho, posted a story on March 6th about wildlife biologist Joel Berger withdrawing a claim he made that white-tailed jack rabbits had disappeared from the Yellowstone area. The claim was a key conclusion of a study and research he did in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
Berger’s study was published in the January issue of the Canadian science journal Oryx. His report stated that for some unknown reason the once-common rabbit had disappeared unnoticed from the Yellowstone region sometime in the last century.
The story says that after the article was published, numerous biologists and naturalists contacted Berger refuting his conclusions and providing evidence of recent sitings of the rabbits.
Berger is a professor in the wildlife biology program at the University of Montana and is a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society. He is also doing pronghorn (antelope) wildlife research in the Upper Green River Valley near Pinedale.
For the complete article written by Matthew Brown click on this link: Montana biologist withdraws claim of rabbit's disappearance (Times-News, 3/6/08)
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