Burrowing Bucktooth- European Rabbit

Latin name: Oryctolagus cuniculus

Littering campus with its extensive burrowing network, it's little surprise that the University of East Anglia is widely renowned for being home to the small and lively mammal that is the European rabbit. Due to their apparent and effortless comfort of life demonstrated across daily across campus, it would appear that the critters' could not be more at home, although this is slightly misleading as rabbits were not always a common sight upon the shores of Britain. Native to the Iberian Peninsula, the rabbit was introduced here via the Romans after they invaded in 43AD, in order to provide a bountiful supply of both meat and fur. 

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An alert rabbit snapped in a meadow. Image courtesy of Rudmer Zwerver

Despite acting as a valuable source of prey for many indigenous British species such as stoats, foxes and numerous birds of prey, the presence of the rabbit has had grave economic and ecological consequences over the years. It is thought that rabbits cost the UK economy approximately £260m a year in damages to crops, business and infrastructure, making them by far Britain's most costly invasive species with recent estimates calculating that there are near enough of 40 million of European rabbit upon our shores. 

Due to the clear problems that the rabbit poses to nations where it is classed as invasive, populations have been attempted to be controlled. The most notable of these attempts was the introduction of the highly infective myxomatosis virus. Concocted in Australia, the virus works by causing the localised growth of deadly skin tumours, followed by a fever and secondary bacterial infection with most cases resulting in death after two weeks. 

The disease was introduced to the UK after it was a resounding success in Australia, where the rabbit population was curbed by 500 million individuals during the early 1950s. Infected rabbits were tactically placed in virus-free burrows allowing them to spread the deadly disease. However, such an act was deemed illegal in 1954. After an estimated 99% of rabbits in Britain succumbed to the disease, the population has recovered with a vengeance with current estimates placing the species in a more than healthy position. 

In terms of diet, rabbits are herbivores and are not the type of animal to be picky eaters. They have a distinct preference for a variety of grasses, leaves, tree bark and root. They have also developed a taste for crops and vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, root vegetables and grain, much to farmers and the avid gardeners annoyance. 


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