Can drones count endangered rabbits in Central Washington better than people can?

It’s not easy counting Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits.

Weighing less than 1 pound, the federally endangered rabbits are hard to catch on camera as they dart between burrows. However, this year, wildlife biologists hope drones are up to the task.

For the second time in four years, wildlife biologists with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will use drones to help them in their annual count of the elusive species near Quincy. Today, only 100 to 150 of the rabbits remain.

Biologists estimate the number of pygmy rabbits by counting the number of burrows in an area and collecting scat for genetic analysis, said Fish and Wildlife biologist Jon Gallie.

Traditionally, volunteers and staffers meticulously sweep the area for rabbits over several days.

Now, biologists hope the drones can cover more ground more quickly and identify possible burrow sites before sending a few people to confirm. The practice has become more common in the past few years, as drone technology is used more often to monitor other animal habitats like ground squirrels and salmon, Gallie said.

Wildlife biologists typically count the federally endangered species in the winter, when their tracks and scat are easy to spot, he said.

Fish and Wildlife manages two sites for the rabbits, encompassing 250 square miles. A third site was destroyed in 2020 during the Pearl Hill Fire, which researchers estimate killed 43% of all existing pygmy rabbits.

“Everything that we had worked for about a decade on, we lost overnight,” Gallie said.

The rabbits need dense sage brush and deep soil to survive. Their population has been whittled down over the decades as their habitats in the Columbia Basin have turned into farmland, Gallie said. Around 20 years ago, the last 16 rabbits were captured and placed in a zoo for captive breeding.

Though the rabbits have many predators, the survival rate of the released rabbits has shown success, he said.