Where does the European rabbit live?
The European rabbit is native to the Iberian Peninsula and south-western France. It has been introduced to hundreds of locations around the world, including Australia in 1859, where it has become invasive. It prefers grassland habitats. Wild populations are common in Europe, but declining. Until the Middle Ages, it was often kept semi-free in large enclosed areas called warrens, which gave it its name.
What does the European rabbit eat?
The rabbit is a herbivore: it feeds mainly on grasses and leaves, though it may supplement its diet with berries, tree bark and field crops such as maize. It has many predators: birds of prey, weasels, cats and canids. To escape them, it runs and hides, using vegetation and its own burrows. It is well known for digging networks of burrows, called warrens, where it spends most of its time when not feeding.
Is the European rabbit endangered?
Yes: the IUCN lists it as Endangered, even though it is very present elsewhere in the world. It lives in social groups centred around territorial females, who rarely stray far from their warren, except to establish nests where they raise their young. It has been hunted since the Paleolithic, and raised as a food source since at least the first century BCE. All domestic rabbit breeds descend from it.
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