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_ European rabbit _
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Introduction
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The European rabbit ('Oryctolagus cuniculus') or coney is a species
of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France.
It has been introduced to hundreds of locations around the world.
Wild and domesticated European rabbits around the world can vary
widely in size, shape, and colour. The average adult European
rabbit is smaller than the European hare, though size and weight
vary with habitat and diet.
European rabbits prefer grassland habitats and are herbivorous,
mainly feeding on grasses and leaves, though they may supplement
their diet with berries, tree bark, and field crops such as maize.
They are prey to a variety of predators, including birds of prey,
weasels, cats, and canids. The European rabbit's main defence
against predators is to run and hide, using vegetation and its own
burrows for cover. It is well known for digging networks of
burrows, called warrens, where it spends most of its time when not
feeding. The European rabbit lives in social groups centred around
territorial females. European rabbits in an established social
group will rarely stray far from their warren, with female rabbits
leaving the warren mainly to establish nests where they will raise
their young. Unlike hares, rabbits are born blind and helpless,
requiring maternal care until they leave the nest.
The European rabbit has been hunted since the Paleolithic period,
and raised as a food source since at least the first century BCE.
It has also had major agricultural and biological impacts as an
invasive species. It is the only domesticated species of rabbit,
and all known breeds of domestic rabbit are its descendants. It has
often been introduced to exotic locations as a food source or for
sport hunting. It has been introduced to at least 800 islands and
every continent except Antarctica, often with devastating effects
on local biodiversity due to a lack of predators. However, the
species is listed as near threatened by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature, as it has faced population decline in its
native range due to overhunting, habitat destruction, and diseases
such as myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease. This decline
has directly led to negative impacts on populations of the Iberian
lynx and Spanish imperial eagle, predators that rely on the rabbit
as food.
Taxonomy
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Originally assigned to the genus 'Lepus' by Swedish biologist Carl
Linnaeus in 1758, the European rabbit was placed in the newly
created genus 'Oryctolagus' in 1874 by Swedish zoologist Wilhelm
Lilljeborg. This generic name derives from (, 'burrowing') and (,
'hare'). Its species name, , stems from the Low Latin root word ,
the feminine form of the adjective . The European rabbit had
several characteristics that distinguished it from the known hares:
it had unique burrowing habits, blind and helpless (altricial)
young, and a narrow nasal opening. It is superficially similar to
the North American cottontails ('Sylvilagus') in that both are
altricial, have white flesh, and display little sexual dimorphism.
However, they differ in skull characteristics, and cottontails do
not construct their own burrows as the European rabbit does.
Molecular studies confirm the resemblance is due to convergent
evolution, and that the European rabbit's closest relatives are the
riverine rabbit ('Bunolagus monticularis'), the hispid hare
('Caprolagus hispidus'), and the Amami rabbit ('Pentalagus
furnessi'). The European rabbit gene ', responsible for the
principal immunoglobulin light chain, shows high amino acid
divergence between domesticated types and ferals derived from them.
This divergence can be as high as 40%, and indicates high genetic
diversity of populations surviving over evolutionary time scales.
The following cladogram, based on analysis of nuclear and
mitochondrial DNA done by Matthee and colleagues in 2004 and
clarifications from Abrantes and colleagues in 2011, encompasses
the known genera of rabbits and hares:
{{clade
|1=
|2={{clade
|1='Romerolagus' (volcano rabbit) 50 px
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=
|2={{clade
|1=
|2='Pentalagus' (Amami rabbit) 50 px
}}
}}
}}
|2='Lepus' (hares) 60 px
}}
}}
}}
Subspecies
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there are two recognized subspecies of the European rabbit: 'O. c.
cuniculus' and 'O. c. algirus'. These subspecies are also referred
to as the common rabbit and the Iberian rabbit, respectively. The
common rabbit has a native range encompassing parts of southern
France and north-east Spain, while the Iberian rabbit occurs in the
south-west part of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal and
Andorra). Both subspecies have been introduced to regions beyond
their native range, though the common rabbit is much more
widespread. While the common rabbit has been introduced to every
continent besides Antarctica and several hundred islands, the
Iberian rabbit is only known as non-native on a few islands: the
Azores, Madeira, Canary, and Balearic Islands; Corsica, Sardinia,
and Sicily.
The two accepted subspecies of European rabbit differ enough such
that they have been proposed for separation into distinct species.
Compared to the common rabbit, the Iberian rabbit is smaller and
has more pronounced reverse sexual dimorphism (females are larger).
It is also affected by different parasites. The Iberian rabbit has
a notably high diversity of nucleotides compared to other rabbits.
Historically, the number and names of the European rabbit's
subspecies have changed. Their original descriptions were often
differentiated only in body size or patterns in fur colour. Little
to no reference was given for a subspecies' geographic range or
variations in size or appearance. Writing in the 'Zoological
Journal of the Linnean Society' in 1996, Colin Sharples and
colleagues noted that "[t]here has been no comprehensive account of
the taxonomic status of the European rabbit since Miller's (1912)
catalogue of European mammals". The referenced Gerrit Smith Miller
Jr., an American naturalist, described two subspecies of European
rabbit in 1912: the nominate subspecies 'O. c. cuniculus', and the
Mediterranean rabbit 'O. c. huxleyi'. He noted that the
19th-century species 'Lepus vernicularis' and 'Lepus vermicula'
were 'nomina nuda' (having no proper description) and should be
considered synonyms of the common rabbit. 'Cuniculus fodiens' was
also made a synonym of the common rabbit in this work. Of the
Mediterranean rabbit, Miller wrote that it was smaller than 'O. c.
cuniculus' and appeared to have a "more grey and finely grizzled"
colour. In 1951, Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott provided a list of
six subspecies; there they wrote that the species 'Cuniculus
kreyenbergi' was a synonym of 'O. c. cuniculus'. This was based on
a 1938 account by American zoologist Glover Morrill Allen that
presumed it to be a non-native population of the European rabbit in
China. A profile of the species by John A. Gibb in 1990 followed
Miller and again recognized only 'O. c. cuniculus' and 'O. c.
huxleyi'. Sharples found in 1996 that there were two distinct
lineages of mitochondrial DNA in Europe, but did not recommend
which subspecies should be recognized going forward, if any. By
2005, six subspecies were recognized in the third edition of
'Mammal Species of the World':
This organization was similar to that put forth by Ellerman and
Morrisson-Scott in 1951. The earlier account differed in that the
Cretan rabbit was considered a synonym of the Mediterranean rabbit,
and 'O. c. oreas'--thought to be a subspecies endemic to
Morocco--was an accepted name. This taxonomy was challenged by
genetic studies undertaken in 2008, which indicated only two extant
subspecies: 'O. c. cuniculus' and 'O. c. algirus'. These remain the
two recognized subspecies of European rabbit, as of 2025. The two
lineages are thought to have diverged during the Quaternary
glaciation 2 million years ago (Mya). Most populations in regions
where the European rabbit is not native are considered to belong to
'O. c. cuniculus'. This includes 'O. c. brachyotus', 'O. c.
cnossius', and 'O. c. habetensis'. Conservation efforts have
historically treated the common rabbit and Iberian rabbit as
interchangeable with regards to policies and translocation
programmes; this has impacted the declining Iberian rabbit
population and spurred efforts to recognize the two lineages as
separate species.
!Subspecies !Trinomial authority !Skull !Image !Description !Range
!Synonyms
|**Common rabbit** 'O. c. cuniculus' (Nominate subspecies)
|(Linnaeus, 1758) |alt=Dorsal view of the common rabbit
subspecies' skull |100 px |Longer ears and hind feet, greater body
mass overall, less pronounced reverse sexual dimorphism compared to
'O. c. algirus'. Domesticated. |Native to northeastern Iberia and
southern France. Introduced to Crete, northern Morocco, northern
Algeria, the British Isles, Central, Southern and Eastern Europe,
Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Africa, and several Atlantic and
Pacific islands. |'brachyotus' (Trouessart, 1917) 'cnossius' (Bate,
1906) 'fodiens' (Gray, 1867) 'habetensis' (Cabrera, 1923)
'kreyenbergi' (Honigmann, 1913) 'vermicula' (Gray, 1843)
'vernicularis' (Thompson, 1837)
|**Iberian rabbit** 'O. c. algirus'
|(Loche, 1858) |alt=Dorsal view of the Iberian rabbit subspecies'
skull |100 px |Smaller and with more pronounced reverse sexual
dimorphism compared to 'O. c. cuniculus'. Notably high diversity of
nucleotides compared to other rabbits. Affected by different
parasites compared to 'O. c. cuniculus'. Native to Portugal and
southern Spain. Introduced to the Azores, Madeira, and Canary
Islands; the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily.
|'huxleyi' (Haeckel, 1874)
Fossil record
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The oldest known fossils of the currently living European rabbit
species, 'Oryctolagus cuniculus', date to 0.6 million years ago in
the Middle Pleistocene age in southern Spain. The first fossils
belonging to the genus 'Oryctolagus' were found in Granada and date
to 6 Mya during the Miocene epoch. Species such as 'O. laynensis',
a presumed ancestor of 'O. cuniculus', and 'O. lacosti' were
recorded from 3.5 Mya up until the appearance of 'O. cuniculus'.
This species, 'O. cuniculus', was the only member of its genus to
survive to the Late Pleistocene, whereupon it spread from the
Iberian Peninsula to the Mediterranean and northern Europe. Fossils
of the European rabbit are also known in the Maghreb from this
period, though they were likely introduced to the region by humans.
During the Last Glacial Maximum, a period lasting roughly from 26.5
to 19 thousand years ago, much of Europe was covered in permafrost,
and conditions were cold and dry. Glaciers were at their greatest
extent from 20 to 18 thousand years ago. Rabbit populations during
this period were largely confined to the Iberian Peninsula and
southern France, where they remained in two distinct, isolated
refugia. They dispersed away from these refugia into central Spain
after glaciers retreated, in the Early Holocene epoch roughly 11.5
thousand years ago.
Description
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Adult European rabbits typically range from 36 to 38 cm in length
and weigh 1.5 to 3 kg. The tail is long, and the hind foot
measures 8 to 8.9 cm in length. The ears are 7 to 8 cm long. The
European rabbit is smaller than the European hare and mountain
hare, has proportionately shorter legs and lacks black ear tips.
Size and weight vary according to food and habitat quality. Rabbits
living on light soil with nothing but grass to feed on are
noticeably smaller than specimens living on highly cultivated
farmlands with plenty of roots and clover. Pure European rabbits
weighing 5 lb and upwards are uncommon, but are occasionally
reported. One large specimen, caught in February 1890 in Lichfield,
England, was weighed at 6 lb. Within its native range of the
Iberian peninsula, the European rabbit is generally smaller than in
regions it has been introduced to, weighing from . Unlike the brown
hare, the male European rabbit is more heavily built than the
female. The penis is located posterior to the scrotum and lacks a
baculum (the penis bone, present in many mammals, but not in
rabbits) and true glans. The testicles, which are located in
scrotal sacs to each side of the penis, can be retracted into the
abdomen when food is scarce or when sexually inactive. Rudimentary
nipples are also present in male rabbits.
The fur of the European rabbit is made up of soft down hair covered
by stiff guard hairs, and is generally greyish-brown, though this
is subject to much variation. The guard hairs are banded brown and
black, or grey, while the nape of the neck and scrotum are reddish.
The chest patch is brown, while the rest of the underparts are
white or grey. A white star shape is often present on kittens'
foreheads, but rarely occurs in adults. The whiskers are long and
black, and the feet are fully furred and buff-coloured. The tail
has a white underside, which becomes prominent when escaping
danger. This may act as a signal for other rabbits to run.
Moulting occurs once a year, beginning in March on the face and
spreading over the back. The underfur is completely replaced by
October-November. The European rabbit exhibits great variation in
colour, from white and light sandy to dark grey and completely
black. Such variation depends largely on the amount of guard hairs
relative to regular pelage. Melanistic rabbits are not uncommon in
mainland Europe, though albinos are rare.
The skeleton and musculature of the European rabbit, like other
rabbits and hares, are suited to survival by rapid escape from
predators. Compared to other mammals of similar size, the European
rabbit's skeleton is fragile and light, making up 8% of the
rabbit's body weight on average. For comparison, the skeleton of a
domestic cat makes up 13% of its weight. Most of the muscular
development in the rabbit is focused in the lumbar (abdominal)
region and the limbs, particularly in the thighs. The rabbit's hind
limbs are an exaggerated feature, being much longer and capable of
producing more force than the forelimbs. Underuse of the rabbit's
muscles leads to osteoporosis via bone rarefaction.
Social and territorial behaviour
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The European rabbit lives in burrows known as warrens that contain
social groups consisting of one to five adult males, known as
bucks, and one to eight adult females, known as does. These warrens
often form around a dominant male and several subordinate females
and males, and they benefit the population by providing a location
safe from predators to raise young. Breeding groups of rabbits may
extend to include two or more nearby warrens if beneficial to the
population. European rabbits are territorial, and even within a
warren will defend their territory against neighbouring social
groups. Females tend to be more territorial than males. Rabbit
territories are marked with dung hills, known as latrines.
The size of the species' home range varies according to habitat,
food, shelter, cover from predators, and breeding sites, though it
is generally small, encompassing about . Male ranges tend to be
larger than those of females, though this can vary depending on
environmental factors. Female home ranges have been observed to be
larger than those of males when rabbit density is low and
high-quality food is abundant. The European rabbit rarely strays
far from its burrow; when feeding on cultivated fields, it
typically only moves 25 m away from its burrow, and rarely 50 m. It
may, however, move as far as 500 m after an abrupt change in
environment, such as a harvest. This behaviour may be an
antipredator adaptation, as rabbits in areas where predators are
under rigorous control may move three times further from their
burrows than those in areas without predator management.
The European rabbit is a gregarious animal, which lives in stable
social groups centred around females and sharing access to one or
more burrow systems. Social structures tend to be looser in areas
where burrow construction is relatively easy. Dominance hierarchies
exist in parallel for both bucks and does. Among bucks, status is
determined through access to does, with dominant bucks siring the
majority of the colony's offspring. The dominant does have priority
access to the best nesting sites, with competition over such sites
often leading to serious injury or death; they have been observed
fighting as hard or harder than bucks when vying for resources,
including good nesting sites. Subordinate does, particularly in
large colonies, typically resort to using single-entrance breeding
spots far from the main warren, or may abandon the warren entirely,
thus making themselves vulnerable to fox or badger predation.
Reproduction and development
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In the European rabbit's mating system, dominant bucks exhibit
polygyny, whereas lower-status individuals (both bucks and does)
often form monogamous breeding relationships; monogamous
relationships are also common among groups of rabbits with lower
density of females. Rabbits signal their readiness to copulate by
marking other animals and inanimate objects with an odoriferous
substance secreted through a chin gland, in a process known as
"chinning". Though male European rabbits may sometimes be amicable
with one another, fierce fights can erupt among bucks during the
breeding season, which typically starts in autumn and continues
through to spring. Occasionally, the mating season will extend into
the summer.
A succession of 4 to 5 litters are produced annually, but in
overpopulated areas, pregnant does may lose all their embryos
through intrauterine resorption. Each litter usually produces three
to seven kittens. Shortly before giving birth, the doe constructs a
separate burrow known as a "stop" or "stab", generally in an open
field away from the main warren. These breeding burrows are
typically a few feet long and are lined with grass and moss, as
well as fur plucked from the doe's belly. The breeding burrow
protects the kittens from adult bucks and predators, and the nest
lining protects them from hypothermia.
The gestation period of the European rabbit is 30 days, with the
sex ratio of male to female kittens tending to be 1:1. Kittens born
to the dominant buck and doe--which enjoy better nesting and
feeding grounds--tend to grow larger and stronger and become more
dominant than those born to subordinate rabbits. Not uncommonly,
European rabbits mate again immediately after giving birth, with
some specimens having been observed to nurse previous young while
pregnant. Female European rabbits may become pregnant at three
months of age, but do not reach their full reproductive ability
until they are two years old, after which they remain able to
reproduce for four more years. Bucks reach sexual maturity at four
months of age.
Female European rabbits nurse their kittens once a night, for only
a few minutes. After suckling is complete, the doe seals the
entrance to the stop with soil and vegetation. In its native
Iberian and southern French range, European rabbit young have a
growth rate of 5 g per day, though such kittens in non-native
ranges may grow 10 g per day. Weight at birth is 30 - and increases
to 150 - by 21-25 days, during the weaning period. European rabbit
kittens are born blind, deaf, and nearly naked. They are
predisposed to seek out chemical signals produced by the lactating
female to obtain the milk needed to survive, in particular the
pheromone known as 2-methyl-2-butenal. The rabbits' ears do not
gain the power of motion until 10 days of age. The eyes open 11
days after birth. At 15 days, the rabbits start eating hay and
other food in the nest besides milk, and by 18 days, the kittens
begin to leave the burrow. Young rabbits that are approaching
sexual maturity but have not left the nest are often forcibly
removed by dominant males.
Burrowing behaviour
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The European rabbit's burrows occur mostly on slopes and banks,
where drainage is more efficient. The burrow entrances are
typically 10-50 cm in diameter, and are easily recognizable by the
bare earth at their mouths. Vegetation growth is prevented by the
constant passing and repassing of the resident rabbits. Large
burrows are complex excavations which may descend to depths of
several feet. They are not constructed on any specified plan, and
appear to be enlarged or improved as a result of activity over
several generations. Kittens sleep in chambers lined with grass and
fur, while adults sleep on the bare earth, likely to escape
dampness. Warmth is secured by huddling.
Digging is done by pulling the soil backwards with the fore feet
and throwing it between the hind legs, which scatter the material
with kicking motions. While most burrows are dug from the outside,
some warrens feature holes dug from the inside, which act as
emergency exits when escaping from predators below ground. These
holes usually descend perpendicularly to 1-1.2 m, and their mouths
lack the bare earth characteristic of burrow entrances. Although
both sexes dig, does do so more skilfully and for longer periods.
Communication
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The European rabbit is a relatively quiet animal, though it has at
least two vocalizations. The best-known is a high treble scream or
squeal. This distress call has been likened to the cry of a piglet,
and is uttered when in extreme distress, such as being caught by a
predator or trap. During the spring, bucks express contentment by
emitting grunting sounds when approaching other rabbits. These
grunts are similar to shrill hiccups, and are emitted with the
mouth closed. Aggression is expressed with a low growl. Besides
screaming or growling, European rabbits are known to honk, purr,
and hiss. Young rabbits are far more vocal than adults; their
vocalizations are thought to be indicators that they are ready to
start suckling.
Non-verbal communication occurs within social groups of rabbits,
particularly within warrens, via chinning or scent marking of
objects and other rabbits by dominant group members. Rabbits may
groom themselves using secretions from their glands or with
substances such as saliva or urine to signal their sexual or
reproductive status. Glands in the groin region appear to be
particularly important for individual identification, as rabbits
will use these secretions to identify other rabbits as unfamiliar.
Both rabbits and hares are known to thump the ground with their
feet to communicate the presence of threats, such as predators, or
when they are stressed. A stressed rabbit may also grind its teeth,
but the role of this behaviour in communication is unclear.
Habitat
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The European rabbit's ideal habitat consists of short grasslands
with secure refuge (such as burrows, boulders, hedgerows, scrub,
and woodland) near feeding areas. The size and distribution of its
burrow systems depend on the type of soil present. In areas with
loose soil, it selects sites with supporting structures, such as
tree roots or shrubs, to prevent burrow collapse. Warrens tend to
be larger and to have more interconnected tunnels in areas with
chalk than those in sand. In large coniferous plantations, the
species only occurs on peripheral areas and along fire breaks and
rides. In the rabbit's native range, it is strongly associated with
Mediterranean shrubland. The European rabbit's grazing habits tend
to promote its ideal open habitat via the dispersion of seeds and
trimming of vegetation. In regions where the European rabbit is not
native, the species is highly adaptive, preferring areas that have
high amounts of vegetation and cover for escaping from predators.
Rabbits can be found inhabiting steppes, forests, savannahs, and
rocky outcrops in Argentina and south and central Chile, despite
these not being preferred habitats.
Diet
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The European rabbit eats a wide variety of herbage, especially
grasses. It favours young leaves and shoots from nutritious
species, particularly fescues. In cultivated areas, the rabbit's
diet expands to various crops, including sugar beet, hay, and
cereals. Winter wheat is preferred over maize and dicotyledons. The
European rabbit generally grazes variably around its warren,
creating a gradient of low vegetation and nutritional content
closer to the burrow, where grazing is most intense, to high
vegetation and available nutrition further away, where the rabbit
is more exposed to predators and uses more energy to escape. The
diet of a rabbit population is generally influenced by the
available vegetation and competition from other herbivores; in
areas with little competition, rabbits have been found to prefer
endemic plant species over non-endemics. Hungry rabbits in winter
may resort to eating bark on shrubs and young trees. Tree bark,
seeds, and roots are examples of food items that the rabbit will
forage in times of little food. Captive European rabbits in small
breeding operations may be fed with freshly foraged vegetation,
though most large-scale breeders provide rabbits with standardized
feed in pellet form, formulated to provide a balance of fibre,
starch and protein. Depending on the body's fat and protein
reserves, a rabbit can survive without food in winter for about 2
to 8 days.
The European rabbit produces and ingests caecotropes, soft,
mucus-covered pellets produced in the gastrointestinal tract. When
food is first eaten, the rabbit is not able to completely break
down the fibre and obtain the maximum amount of nutrition. In the
region posterior to the colon in the hindgut, partially digested
food is formed into soft pellets (caecotropes) filled with
protein-rich bacteria, which pass to the rectum in glossy clusters.
The rabbit swallows them whole, without breaking the enveloping
membrane. Swallowed caecotropes are then fermented in the stomach
before passing into the small intestine for nutrients to be
absorbed; the indigestible matter is excreted as hard pellets at
night. This behaviour is known as refection or caecotrophy, and is
performed by all rabbits, hares, and pikas.
Predators
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The European rabbit is prey to many different predatory species.
Foxes, dingoes, wolves, lynxes, wolverines, and dogs kill both
adult and young rabbits by stalking and surprising them in the
open, but relatively few rabbits are caught this way, as they can
quickly rush back to cover with a burst of speed. Both foxes and
badgers will dig out kittens from shallow burrows; badgers are too
slow to catch adult rabbits. Both wild and domestic cats can stalk
and leap upon rabbits, particularly young specimens leaving their
burrows for the first time. Wildcats take rabbits according to
availability; in eastern Scotland, where rabbits are abundant, they
can make up over 90% of the wildcats' diet. Most domestic cats are
incapable of killing healthy, full-grown adults, but will take weak
and diseased ones. Does can be fiercely protective of their
kittens, having been observed to chase away large cats and
mustelids, including ferrets, stoats, and weasels. However, rabbits
typically run from mustelids, and may fear them innately. Cases are
known of rabbits becoming paralysed with fear and dying when
pursued by stoats or weasels, even when rescued unharmed. The
European rabbit makes up 85% of the polecat's diet, and its
availability is important to the success of breeding female mink.
Brown rats are known to prey upon young rabbits; they will reside
in rabbit burrows during the summer and attack them in groups.
Although many birds of prey are capable of killing rabbits, few are
strong enough to carry them. Large species, such as golden and sea
eagles, may carry rabbits back to their nests, while small eagles,
buzzards, and harriers struggle to do so. Hawks and owls typically
only carry off very small kittens. Due to its decline in the
Iberian Peninsula, the Iberian lynx and Spanish imperial eagle,
specialist predators of the European rabbit, have faced downturns
in population. Ladder snakes will prey on juveniles.
In efforts to escape predators, the European rabbit will make use
of its tail's white underside while fleeing to send signals to
predators and other rabbits through tail flagging, a
pursuit-deterrence signal. Right before fleeing, the display of a
white tail warns a rabbit's relatives of potential danger. During
escape, the tail display may serve two functions: one, as an honest
signal, it indicates to a predator that the rabbit would be costly
to catch; two, it may help to confuse the predator.
Diseases, parasites and immunity
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The European rabbit is the only species to be fatally affected by
myxomatosis. The most lethal strain has a five-day incubation
period, after which the eyelids swell and the inflammation quickly
spreads to the base of the ears, the forehead, and nose. At the
same time, the anal and genital areas also swell. During the last
stages of the disease, the swellings discharge a fluid rich in
viral material. Death usually follows on day 11 or 12. The primary
carrier of myxomatosis varies based on location; in North America
and Australia, it is carried by multiple species of mosquitoes,
while in Britain its primary carrier is the rabbit flea
('Spilopsyllus cuniculi').
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) is an extremely contagious
disease caused by the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) that
is largely specific to the European rabbit. It causes lesions of
acute necrotizing hepatitis, disseminated intravascular
coagulation, and haemorrhaging, mainly in the lungs. Susceptible
specimens have a fatality rate of 70 to 95%. A variant of RHDV
known as RHDV2 emerged in France in 2010. This strain is known to
cause fatal infections in rabbits vaccinated against RHDV, and has
since spread from France to other parts of Europe, Africa, and
North America. The strain notably affects species besides the
European rabbit, with fatal infections recorded in individual hares
('Lepus'), red rock hares ('Pronolagus'), riverine rabbits
('Bunolagus'), and cottontail rabbits ('Sylvilagus').
The European rabbit has unique adaptations in its innate immune
system due to a mutation in its 'CCR5' gene, which plays a part in
inflammation and immune response. This mutation is derived from a
gene conversion event in the related 'CCR2' gene; these adaptations
are shared with rabbits in the genera 'Bunolagus' and 'Pentalagus',
which suggests a common ancestor that obtained this trait roughly 8
million years ago. Additionally, the European rabbit's adaptive
immune system has significantly diverged from other tetrapods in
the manner in which it employs immunoglobulin light chains. In one
case, a unique additional disulfide bond was discovered between Cys
80 in Vκ and Cys 171 in Cκ, which has been suggested as serving to
stabilize rabbit antibodies.
Etymology
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Because of its origin outside of the British Isles, the species
does not have a native name in English, with the usual terms
'coney' and 'rabbit' being foreign loanwords. The root word is the
Walloon , which was once commonly used in Liège. itself is derived
from the Middle Dutch , referring to a rabbit, with the addition of
the suffix '-ett'. In the early 20th century, recorded
pronunciations of 'rabbit' included "rabbidge", "rabbert" (North
Devon) and "rappit" (Cheshire and Lancashire). More archaic
spellings include 'rabbette' (15th-16th centuries), 'rabet'
(15th-17th centuries), 'rabbet' (16th-18th centuries), 'rabatte'
(16th century), 'rabytt' (17th century) and 'rabit' (18th century).
The term 'coney' or 'cony' predates 'rabbit', and first occurred
during the 12th century to refer to the animal's pelt. Later,
'coney' referred to the adult animal, while 'rabbit' referred to
the young. The root of 'coney' is the Old French or , of which the
Norman was , plural or . 'Connil' comes from the Latin . Its
forerunner is the Greek (), which first appeared around 204 BCE,
as written in the 'Histories' by Greek historian Polybius, though
its origin is unclear: Aelian, who lived during the third century,
linked the word to Celtiberian and later authors relate it to its
Basque name 'unchi'. The Roman scholars Varro and Pliny, who wrote
in the first centuries BCE and CE respectively, connected it to
'cuneus', which refers to a 'wedge', thus making reference to the
animal's digging ability. Both authors were apparently unaware of
the word's non-Latin origin; the majority of Roman grammarians
derived etymologies using only Greek and Latin. Some ambiguity also
exists as rabbits and hares were referred to with the same words.
At the time, hares were a much more important food source than were
rabbits. Later study of the etymology of has attested to its
origin as a diminutive or adjectival form of the root word for
'dog' () in Celtiberian. The young of the rabbit are referred to as
'kittens' in modern texts. A male rabbit is called a 'buck', as are
male goats and deer, derived from the Old English or ', meaning
"he-goat" or "male deer", respectively. A female is called a 'doe',
derived from the Old English , a word related to , meaning "to
suck".
The species' dwelling place is termed a warren or coney-garth.
'Warren' comes from the Old English , itself derived from the Old
French , , or . The root word is the Low Latin , which originally
signified a preserve in general, only to be later used to refer
specifically to an enclosure set apart for rabbits and hares.
"Coney-garth" derives from the Middle English , which may be a
compound of 'connynge' + 'erthe' ('coney'+'earth'). The term stems
from the Old French or , and later .
Origins
_________
Research in the late 20th century has shown that all European
rabbits carry common genetic markers and descend from one of two
maternal lines. These lines originated roughly 2million years ago
on the Iberian Peninsula and in southern France. Humans began
hunting rabbits and hares in the Paleolithic period; these and
other animals became more prominent in the human diet roughly
20,000years ago. Rabbits were unfavourable prey to early humans due
to their evasiveness and low fat-to-protein ratio, which could lead
to protein toxicity (sometimes termed "rabbit starvation"). Despite
these factors, during the Upper Paleolithic, rabbits, hares, and
pikas made up most of the small animal prey hunted by humans
throughout the Mediterranean and the Iberian Peninsula. Rabbits
were used for more than just their meat by early humans;
archaeological studies have found that their bones were used in
needles and tubular ornaments, and their fur was likely used as
well.
Linguistic record
___________________
Neither the Greek nor Roman colonizers of the Iberian peninsula had
a specific name for the rabbit, because the species was not native
to Greece and Italy, though it is present there nowadays. They
commonly called it "small hare" and "small digging hare", in
contrast to the European hare, which is larger and does not make
burrows. The Roman poet Catullus described the rabbit with the name
'cuniculus',{{efn|This was a latinization of the Western Iberian
word and the etymological origin of the Castilian name 'conejo',
Portuguese 'coelho', Catalan 'conill', and the English name
'coney'}} and referenced its abundance in Celtiberia by calling
this region 'cuniculosa', i.e. rabbit-ridden.-->
In culture
____________
European rabbits are seen both in contemporary and historical art
as well as in folklore. Rabbits were associated with the Iberian
peninsula when it was under Roman rule as the provinces of
Hispania; several coins produced during the reign of Roman emperor
Hadrian featured rabbits alongside the personification of Hispania.
Rabbit warrens were described as undermining the ramparts of
Tarraco by Pliny the Elder, who recommended a method of hunting
rabbits with ferrets. The use of ferrets to hunt rabbits was still
used in the 16th century, as described by English poet George
Gascoigne. The English cleric Edward Topsell wrote on the European
rabbit in his 1607 work 'The History of Four-footed Beasts',
describing the species and its prevalence throughout England, as
well as common beliefs about it, such as its uses in medicine: its
brain was described as an effective antidote against poison, and
the residue from a mixture of powdered rabbit and wine was thought
to cure a sore throat.
Domestication
_______________
The European rabbit is the only rabbit species to be widely
domesticated, for meat, fur, wool, or as a pet. It was first widely
kept in ancient Rome from the first century BCE, where Pliny the
Elder described the use of rabbit hutches, along with enclosures
called 'leporaria.' These enclosures may have been intended more
for hares rather than rabbits, however, as hares were a much more
important food source--they were larger and provided more meat--and
words for rabbits and hares at the time of ancient Rome referred to
both species. In the present day, the European hare is still kept
in captivity in some parts of Europe, though it faces stress,
disease, and reproductive issues. The European rabbit has been
refined into a wide variety of breeds during and since the
emergence of animal fancy in the 19th century. Several breeds are
widely used in research; the European rabbit is one of the first
mammals to have its whole genome sequenced, and it has been
important in the field of immune system research.
Selective breeding has been used since ancient times to produce
rabbits with different characteristics, and while domestic rabbits
are typically larger than wild rabbits, the various breeds of
domestic rabbit exist in a range of sizes from "dwarf" to "giant".
All rabbit breeds, from Netherland Dwarf to Flemish Giant, are
descendants of the European rabbit. They have as much colour
variation among themselves as other livestock and pet animals.
As pets
_________
European rabbits have been kept as pets since the 1800s starting in
the Victorian era, and Beatrix Potter wrote on the house rabbit in
the 1900s. However, the public perception of the rabbit remained as
that of a children's pet until the publication of Marinell
Harriman's 'House Rabbit Handbook' in 1985, after which their
popularity grew significantly. The rabbit is the third most popular
pet in the United Kingdom, and a 2024 survey found roughly 900,000
households with a pet rabbit in the United States. Adoptions in the
United States increase significantly during Easter, though many
rabbits adopted during this time are neglected, given to animal
shelters, or abandoned.
In some urban areas, infestations of feral European rabbits
descended from pets have become a problem. Helsinki, for example,
is host to a notably persistent population of the species that
originated from domestic rabbits released in the 1980s. Major
infestations can have massive impacts on agriculture and
biodiversity, and have been difficult to control through physical
and biological means, such as that in Australia. Several attempts
at extirpation, on the islands of Isola delle Femmine and Macquarie
Island, have been successful.
Use for meat and fur
______________________
The European rabbit has been hunted in its native range since at
least the Last Glacial Maximum roughly 20,000years ago, and it
continues to be a game animal. Much of the world's supply of rabbit
meat comes from domestic rabbits. Over of rabbit meat was produced
globally in 2024. Historically, rabbit was a popular food source in
the United Kingdom for the poorer classes. Among wild rabbits,
those native to Spain were reputed to have the highest meat
quality, followed by those in the Ardennes. As rabbits hold very
little fat, they were hardly ever roasted, being instead boiled,
fried, or stewed.
William Marshall calculated in the 18th century that the value of
the rabbit's skin in proportion to its carcass was greater than
that of the sheep and ox. In the early 20th century, the pelt of
the rabbit was seen as heavier and more durable than the hare's.
Its fur was primarily used for felting or hats, and was also dyed
or clipped, or sold as imitations of more valuable furbearers, such
as fur seal. Development of rabbit breeds in the 21st century has
caused meat and fur rabbits to become further separated. Some
breeds of rabbit are bred for their fur, and others for their meat.
Fur length varies depending on the breed. Large Angora rabbit
breeds are raised for their long, soft fur, which is often spun
into yarn. The Rex rabbit is raised for its smooth, velvet-like
coat, with the hairs of its fur only measuring about long. There
is no standard method for the tanning of rabbit skins. Skins are
often used in gloves, footwear, linings and other garments, while
yarn is used to make items such as blankets, hats, and thermal
underwear. Compared to meat production, few statistics on rabbit
fur and fiber production are known, though in 2014 France reported
70million rabbit skins produced.
As an introduced species
__________________________
The European rabbit has been introduced into several environments,
often with harmful results to vegetation and local wildlife, making
it an invasive species. The first known mention of the rabbit as an
invasive species was made in regard to the introduction of the
rabbit to the Balearic Islands after the Roman conquest of the
first century BCE. According to both Strabo and Pliny the Elder,
the multiplying rabbits caused famines by destroying crop yields
and even collapsed trees and houses with their burrowing. The
inhabitants petitioned Augustus for help, who sent troops to curb
the rabbit population with the help of ferrets. This was possibly
the first ever documented instance of an invasive species. The
deliberate introduction of rabbits across Europe was common from
the Middle Ages onwards, as the right to hunt or keep rabbits was
used by monasteries, Norman dukes, and kings as a reward for
services or to develop political allies. Rabbits were spread
further as colonial powers developed across Europe, such as in the
case of the Azores and Canary Islands, which were important
strategic locations for Spanish and Portuguese ships on their way
to the Americas.
Other locations where the European rabbit was introduced include
Great Britain; two of the Hawaiian Islands (Laysan Island and
Lisianski Island); Oceania's Macquarie Island; the island
Ōkunoshima in Japan; Washington's Smith Island and San Juan Island
(starting around 1900 and later spreading to the other San Juan
Islands); Valle Nuevo National Park in the Dominican Republic in
the 1950s; several islands off the coast of Southern Africa
(including Robben Island); Australia; and New Zealand. In addition,
the European rabbit has spread to at least 800 individual islands
or island groups.
In the British Isles
______________________
The European rabbit is widespread in Great Britain, Ireland, and
most other islands, except for Isles of Scilly, Rùm, Tiree, and
some small Scottish islands, such as Gunna, Sanday, and most of the
Treshnish Isles. One prominent theory is that the rabbit was first
brought to Britain by the Normans after the 1066 conquest of
England, as no pre-Norman British artistic or literary references
to the animal are known. However, physical remains of rabbits have
been found dating from the Roman conquest of Britain in the first
century CE, indicating that Romans did introduce rabbits to the
island, though likely not in great numbers. The rabbit was
nonetheless scarce or absent throughout most of England following
the Norman conquest, as warrens are not mentioned in the Domesday
Book or any other 11th-century documents. Rabbits became well
known, but not necessarily accepted members of British fauna
between the 12th and 13th centuries. Evidence of their presence is
found in a number of bones from the midden of Rayleigh Castle,
which was occupied from the 11th-13th centuries. The first
references to rabbits in Ireland occur roughly at the same time as
English ones, thus indicating Norman introduction. They had become
plentiful, probably at a local level, by the 13th century, as
indicated by an inquisition of Lundy Island made in 1274 describing
how 2,000 rabbits were caught annually. Subsequent allusions in
official documents became more frequent, with the species later
becoming an important food item at feasts.
Truly wild populations increased slowly, primarily in the coastal
areas and lowland heaths of Breckland and Norfolk. There were
notable population increases after 1750, when changes in
agricultural practices created favourable habitats, and increasing
interest in game management resulted in intensive predator control
campaigns. Although now common in the Scottish lowlands, the
species was little known in Scotland before the 19th century. Until
then, it was confined to portions of the Edinburgh district at
least as far back as the 16th century, certain islands and the
coastal sand dunes of the Scottish mainland. Although unknown in
Caithness in 1743, the species became well established there by
1793.
The infectious disease myxomatosis entered Britain from France in
1953, and reached Ireland by 1954, prompting the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds to set up "mercy squads" meant to euthanize
myxomatous rabbits. Major myxomatosis outbreaks still occur in
Britain, peaking twice annually: in spring and especially in late
summer or autumn, though immunity has reduced the mortality rate
from 99% to 5-33%.
Between 1996 and 2018, rabbit numbers fell by 88% in the east
Midlands of England, 83% in Scotland, and 64% across the whole of
the UK. Efforts have been made in these regions to encourage the
preservation and development of safe rabbit habitats, as some
arable pastures depend on rabbits' grazing habits to remain
healthy.
In Australia and New Zealand
______________________________
Though rabbits were first introduced to Australia in 1788 with the
arrival of the First Fleet, the most significant population
explosion occurred later on in the 19th century. Twenty-four
European rabbits were introduced to Australia in 1859 by estate
owner Thomas Austin in Victoria. These rabbits were introduced both
for hunting purposes and to provide a sense of familiarity for
colonists, allowing for the pastimes of sport shooting, coursing,
and falconry. Rabbits were also introduced to New Zealand as a
substitute for foxes in horseback hunting. Their descendants
multiplied and spread throughout the country and caused severe
agricultural damage and widespread ecological changes that
contributed to the decline of native Australian species such as the
greater bilby ('Macrotis lagotis') and the southern pig-footed
bandicoot ('Chaeropus ecaudatus').
Between 1901 and 1907, Australia built an immense "rabbit-proof
fence" to halt the westward expansion of the infestation. The
European rabbit, however, can not only jump very high, but also
burrow underground, and this fence failed to protect from rabbit
infestation; despite this, further fencing projects were undertaken
that also failed to control the spread of rabbits in Australia.
During the 1950s, the intentional introduction of the Myxoma virus,
which causes myxomatosis, provided some relief in Australia, but
not in New Zealand, where the insect vectors necessary for the
spread of the disease were not present. Myxomatosis can also infect
pet rabbits. Today's remaining feral rabbits in Australia are
largely immune to myxomatosis. A strain of a second deadly rabbit
virus, rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), was imported to
Australia in 1991 as a biological control agent and was released
accidentally in 1995, killing millions of rabbits. The virus has
been developed further to address changes in environment and
population, with a Korean variant referred to as K5 being released
throughout Australia in 2017. RHDV was also
introduced--illegally--in New Zealand with less success due to
improper timing.
In South America
__________________
The exact date on which the European rabbit was introduced into
Chile is unknown, though the first references to it occur during
the mid-18th century. By the 19th century, several authors referred
to the presence of both rabbits and rabbit hutches in central
Chile. The importation and breeding of rabbits was encouraged by
the state, as rabbits were seen as cheap sources of food for
peasants. Whether or not their escape into the wild was intentional
is unknown, but warnings over the dangers of feral rabbits were
raised during the early 20th century and the species had propagated
dramatically by the late 1920s in central Chile, Tierra del Fuego,
and the Juan Fernández Islands. In the 1930s, the state sought to
tackle the rabbit problem by banning fox hunting, though it was
later discovered that indigenous South American foxes rarely preyed
on rabbits, preferring native species. In modern times, the
European rabbit problem has not been resolved definitively, though
a deliberate outbreak of myxomatosis in Tierra del Fuego
successfully reduced local rabbit populations. The species remains
a problem in central Chile and on Juan Fernández, despite
years-long hunting projects.
European rabbits cause ecological damage in Chile by uprooting
vegetation with long regeneration cycles and overgrazing across
large areas, reducing biodiversity. Rabbit burrows directly
increase the risk of erosion. Where rabbits cannot burrow, such as
along the Chilean coast, they use the nests of other animals, which
has led to nesting failures in seabirds. Because burrowing is tied
to the rabbit's reproduction, destroying burrows has been one of a
few effective means of population control. Since its introduction
into Chile, the European rabbit has spread into Argentina and
Uruguay. In other Central and South American countries, there are
no reported feral populations. Cuniculture is widespread, but there
is a lack of standardized information or statistics across
countries.
In Ukraine
____________
The two accounts over the introduction of rabbits in Ukraine are
conflicting. One holds that the species was brought there in the
early 20th century by the Austrian nobleman, Graf Malokhovsky, who
released them on his estate near the Khadzhibey Estuary, while
another holds that rabbits were first brought to Kherson from
Switzerland in 1894 or 1895 by landowner Pinkovsky. Since the
1980s, many populations of rabbits in the country have since
declined or become extinct. Early populations introduced to the
outskirts of Odesa were reported to have spread to a range spanning
300 km in diameter by 1923, and by the peak of the rabbits'
populations in 1980, they were reported as living among abandoned
tenements and caves across the Odesa, Ternopil, Kherson and Crimea
regions. Around this period, the total population of rabbits in
Ukraine was estimated at 15 to 20 thousand individuals. Epidemics
of myxomatosis starting in 1981 caused the gradual extinction of
many colonies across the country; while other diseases such as
tularemia or rabbit haemorrhagic disease may be responsible for
some deaths, diagnoses almost always pointed to myxomatosis.
Strains of the myxoma virus engineered in France to control
populations in western Europe may have been responsible, having
been transmitted east by ticks and fleas. State reports in 2016
indicated that only 100 to 300 rabbits were left in the country.
Conservation status
_____________________
Though the European rabbit thrives in many of the locations where
it was introduced, within its native range in Iberia, populations
are dwindling. In 2005, the Portuguese Institute for Nature
Conservation and Forests classified 'O. cuniculus' in Portugal as
"near threatened", while in 2006, Spanish authorities (SECEM)
reclassified it in Spain as "vulnerable". In 2018, the
International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified 'O.
cuniculus' in Spain, Portugal, and France as "endangered", due to
the extent of recent declines. The IUCN assessment of the species
considers only those populations within its natural distribution,
and as such it was considered endangered in their 2019 evaluation.
It was noted as being both an important game species and an
agricultural pest, and continuation of population management and
monitoring plans were recommended. Hundreds of thousands of
European rabbits have been released in Spain and France as part of
reintroduction efforts, though these were not particularly
successful in increasing rabbit populations. Remediation of
abandoned land that had been overtaken by forest and scrubland was
also recommended, as these encroachments contributed to habitat
fragmentation and loss in regions where the rabbit was once
abundant. The species was later reassessed by the IUCN within its
European range in a 2025 publication; based on new information on
subspecies population trends, a classification of "near threatened"
was given. Within their native ranges, stable and positive
population trends were noted for the common rabbit ('O. c.
cuniculus'), while negative trends continued for the Iberian rabbit
('O. c. algirus'); future separate assessments have been suggested
for the two subspecies.
See also
______________________________
* Cuniculture, on the practice of breeding and raising domesticated
European rabbits
* List of breeds of the domesticated European rabbit
Bibliography
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External links
______________________________
* View the
[http://www.ensembl.org/Oryctolagus_cuniculus/Info/Index/ rabbit
genome] in Ensembl
*
License
_________
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_rabbit
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