The European Rabbit - a different perspective;

The European Rabbit is otherwise known as Oryctolagus cuniculus, and it belongs to the Phylum Chordata, the Class Mammalia and Genus Oryctolagus. Its ancestral home is the Iberian Peninsula, more often known as Spain and Portugal.



A European Rabbit on the UEA Campus

In the UK, rabbits are considered a common sight across fields, pasture, graveyards, parks and many other open spaces all across the country, and there is no doubt that they are very common on the UEA campus! Back in 2012, the UEA's resident rabbits starred on the BBC's One Show and Springwatch! Rabbits have inspired many beloved children's characters, such as Beatrice Potter's Peter rabbit and Lewis Carroll's White rabbit, among other favourites like Bug's Bunny. However, it is rarely known by the anyone that the European Rabbit is classified as a Near Threatened species by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). Many people consider wild rabbits a nuisance or a pest, and it is true that rabbits in high numbers can be very destructive creatures, especially on farmland, and as such farmers regularly undertake measures to control rabbit populations. Outside of it's natural range (ie. Europe), rabbits can become a pest, and the eradication of the rabbit is a priority in conservation of natural ecosystems in many countries.

One such country is Australia, to which the European rabbit is not native. They were in fact introduced to the country by European settlers in the 1800's, who used them as food and wild rabbits were later released into Australia for hunting. Rabbits have an adverse impact on the natural ecosystems in Australia, as they compete with other organisms for food, they selectively graze on certain species and consequently remove any trace of them from the landscape. By 1920, there were approximately 10 billion rabbits in Australia. But, as they are a non-native species, Australia has made every effort to try and control the rabbit population, and eradicate them. As a result, pet rabbits in Australia are denied myxomatosis vaccinations, as it is believed that this will prevent any resilience to the disease being passed to wild rabbits if domestic pets were to escape and breed with them.

Rabbits as we know them are a common sight in the British countryside, as well as in city parks and alongside motorways, but they are indeed now listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. The European rabbit feeds mostly on grasses and cereals, and digs out warrens from soft soil, or may shelter in scrub on rocky outcrops. Rabbits breed throughout the year, hence the term "breed like rabbits", and typically raise between 3-6 young at a time. Baby rabbits are called "kittens", and will leave the warren in under a month. Up to 75% of young rabbits succumb to predators before establishing their own territory.

Rabbits are not just a pest however; they have many uses within ecosystems, such as landscape shaping and control of vegetation and succession, and they are a keystone species making up the diets of over 40 carnivorous species, such as Lynx, foxes, eagles, buzzards...

European Rabbit
- (http://hopperhomebunnyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/european-rabbit-featured-on-msncs.html)

The greatest threats to the European Rabbit are the proliferation of disease (e.g. Myxomatosis, which wiped out approximately 99% of the UK's rabbit population in its first outbreak in the 1950's; and Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD) that appeared in Europe in the 1980's). At the UEA, when the annual outbreak of Myxomatosis hits, over 60% of the colony may be wiped out! This just shows the huge threat this disease poses to these small creatures. Just this year, a mutated version of the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease, called RHD2, reached Britain, and the disease kills rabbits within minutes. Other threats to rabbit populations throughout Europe include habitat degradation from intensive farming, hunting, trapping, poisoning and destruction of rabbit warrens.

But, rabbits are renowned for their breeding success, and there are vaccines available for Myxomatosis, and so there is hope yet for these bunnies!