May 4, 20235:00 AM ET

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173424166/the-latest-to-be-evacuated-from-californias-floods-bunnies

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Lauren SommerLISTEN·2:54

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Biologists are evacuating endangered riparian brush rabbits as floodwaters rise in California.

Lee Eastman/FWS

California’s record-setting winter is providing a much-needed boost for wildlife, includingblooming wildflowersand the fish and ducks that depend on thriving rivers and streams.

Still, for other animals, the rising waters are perilous. Just ask the bunnies.

In the Central Valley, evacuations are underway forendangered riparian brush rabbits. The small brown cottontails, only about a foot-long, are finding themselves stranded on small areas of dry land as nearby rivers overtop their banks.

The San Joaquin River has spread far beyond its banks as the snowpack melts in California’s Sierra Nevada.

Lauren Sommer/NPR

A team from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has captured and moved more than 360 rabbits to higher ground in an effort to protect a species…