Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Rabbits were raised in ancient Rome for meat and pelts. The Romans also are thought to have
selectively bred an Angora rabbit for its long hair to be used for yarn. During the Middle
Ages, French monks practiced selective breeding in rabbits to maximize the desirable traits
such as size and coat color. Rabbit pelts and meat were a valuable food and clothing source in
monasteries. From this start, different breeds were developed slowly until the 18th and 19th
centuries, when breed development took off to the point that there are currently more than 100
breeds of rabbits worldwide.
The European wild rabbit is the only species of rabbit that has been domesticated. In some
parts of the world, the European wild rabbit is still a pest. Twenty-four such rabbits introduced
into Australia in 1859 grew to 600 million rabbits in the course of a century and became de-
structive pests in the country. All breeds of rabbits kept today as pets, raised for fur, and kept
for meat are the result of careful selective breeding of the European wild rabbit.
Domesticated rabbits are typically much larger than the original European wild rabbit. The
European wild rabbit is usually a small animal, about 13 to 18 inches long and weighing just 3
to 5 pounds. They are gray-brown color. Domesticated rabbits today have been bred select-
ively to be much larger in most cases. They come in many colors and color combinations.
Where the European wild rabbit has long ears that stand straight up, domestic rabbit breeds
might have pendulous or “lop” ears that hang down beside their faces, or they may have long
ears that stand straight up.
Despite their legendary reproductive abilities, the European wild rabbit has a precarious exist-
ence in some places in Europe due to predators and urbanization. As a species, they are “near
threatened” in Portugal,” one of the places where they originated, and “vulnerable” in Spain.
Because of their declines in population, the World Conservation Union has labeled the
European wild rabbit as “near threatened” in its native area.
Today, Italy and France maintain a relatively high demand for rabbit meat and lead the world
in rabbit production.
Domesticated Rabbits in the United States
In the U.S. today, rabbits are raised as pets, for commercial purposes (food, fur), and for use
as laboratory animals. Some people enjoy raising rabbits as a hobby. They may raise rabbits
for rabbit shows, to eat at home, to sell as pets, or to provide them as 4-H and FFA project an-
imals. Per capita U.S. meat consumption of rabbit meat was .02 pounds in 2000. In the U.S.,
