The Graceful Charm of the Wild European Rabbit

By Jose Luis Gallego, environmental communicator (@ecogallego)

The most common animals in our countryside, those that live closest to us and which we might run into sporadically, tend to generate less interest than other, rarer and harder-to-spot species. One of the best and clearest examples of this is the wild rabbit, classified under the scientific name Oryctolagus cuniculus and a ubiquitous and at times abundant resident of our rural areas.   

Unmistakable in appearance – save for its similarity to the hare – the wild rabbit is one of the most familiar mammals of our local fauna. Gazing out from its round head are two big dark eyes. Compared to the hare, the wild rabbit has much shorter ears, and its thick, woolly, greyish brown coat is much fluffier. The abdomen is light coloured. The front legs are shorter than the hind legs, although these are far less developed in the rabbit than in the hare, which is generally bigger – almost doubling the rabbit in size and weight – and slimmer and more muscular in build.

A wild rabbit amid the peace and quiet of the countryside 

In contrast to hares – habitual dwellers of open plains and dry rocky ravines – wild rabbits prefer more fertile areas with soft soils that are easy to burrow into, such as meadowlands, grasslands, and forest clearings, where they can usually be spotted at dusk or dawn. Although female rabbits are in heat year-round, they tend to give birth in autumn and spring with a period of rest during the summer. As a rule, each female has half a dozen litters per year with an average of six kits each. Gestation lasts a month, as does nursing. Kit mortality is very high.

A voracious herbivore, wild rabbits basically survive on leaves, stalks, buds, fruits, roots, and bulbs of all kinds of plants, including crops (often leading to problems with farmers). During times of food scarcity, they will also chew on tree bark. 

Compared to the hare, a far less sociable and more solitary animal, the wild rabbit is extremely gregarious. Wild rabbits build their warrens around their home range, establishing colonies that can often be quite numerous. The members of the same group recognize each other by their scent. During the mating season, males mark their territory with faeces, urine, and glandular emissions. Females defend the warren while males keep watch along the colony’s perimeter. The beginning of the mating season is the only time when hostilities break out between neighbouring colonies.

The rabbit’s fur provides effective camouflage, allowing the animal to blend into its surroundings when facing some sort of danger far from the warren. That said, its favourite defensive strategy is to flee towards the warren at breakneck speed and vanish into the safety of its interior. During this frenetic flight, wild rabbits perform all sorts of high-speed zigzags and formidable leaps to outwit and throw off their predator. However, if caught, they do not resist, but let out a high-pitched shriek to warn the rest of the colony to seek safety.

A wild rabbit amid vegetation typical for its natural habitat 

Until well into the 18th century, rabbits were considered a historical pest. Historians recount how the Phoenicians called the Iberian Peninsula “I-shphanim”, which translates to “land of rabbits”, because of the vast number of lagomorphs found pretty much everywhere. Some historians even attribute the etymological root of the Latin toponym “Hispania” to this word.   

The situation of this species, however, has changed significantly since then. Today the wild rabbit has disappeared from more than half of the territories it called home just a century ago, mainly as a consequence of two viral diseases: myxomatosis and viral haemorrhagic disease (VHD). Myxomatosis first appeared in Spain around the middle of the 20th century and quickly decimated rabbit populations to such a degree that the animal vanished completely from certain regions. VHD was first identified in 1988 and replaced myxomatosis as the principal cause of rabbit death, a situation which persists to this day. 

In addition to affecting the species itself, the outbreak of both epidemics destabilized the food chain of Iberian fauna. The rabbit plays a central role in this regard, providing most carnivores with their primary food source, including threatened species like the Iberian lynx or the Spanish imperial eagle for whom this lagomorph represents their main and often only prey. 

So, what is the current conservation status of the wild rabbit? Although it is true that in some parts of the peninsula, colonies might grow so abundant that they cause problems for farmers, rabbits are still succumbing to the aforementioned viruses, as well as suffering significant pressure from hunters who have reduced, and continue to reduce, the ability of populations to recover.  

The wild rabbit is exposed to other threats as well: the use of poisons in the countryside; the effects of climate change, with increasingly severe and recurring droughts; the spread of industrial farming and the destruction of its habitat. All of this justifies the animal’s inclusion as a vulnerable species in the Libro Rojo de los Mamíferos de España – a red list of at-risk mammals in Spain – and explains why the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the wild rabbit as an endangered species.