The Bahaman Hutia: a Rodent Refound

Abstract

In 1966, on a small rocky uninhabited island in the Bahamas, the author discovered an abundant population of the Bahaman hutia, a nocturnal rodent the size of a rabbit, which had been reported extinct. In three visits to the islands he has studied the hutias, now strictly protected by the Bahaman government, and is also breeding them in captivity both for study and as a safety precaution – one catastrophe such as an exceptional hurricane could wipe out the whole population. The author is Assistant Professor of Zoology at Rhode Island University.