European Rabbit

The European rabbit is a soft, furry animal with long ears, a twitchy nose, and a little white tail that flashes when it hops. It first came from the warm, dry lands of Spain, Portugal, and southern France, where it likes grassy fields and low, bushy plants to nibble and hide among.

Rabbits are great diggers. A family of rabbits works together to make a warren, a network of tunnels and cosy rooms deep under the ground. The warren is a safe home where rabbits can sleep during the day and pop up to feed in the cool of the evening and early morning. Rabbits mostly eat grasses, leaves, and clover, and in winter they will nibble roots and bark too.

Baby rabbits are called kits. They are born tiny, pink, and blind in a snug nest, and their mother lines it with soft fur from her own body to keep them warm and hidden. A mother rabbit can raise several litters of kits in a single year, so a warren can quickly grow into a big, busy family.

Here is something surprising. In the rabbit’s own homeland in Spain and Portugal, there are far fewer wild rabbits than there used to be, and they are now counted as endangered. Rabbits matter a lot there, because many other animals depend on them, so people are working to help their numbers grow again.

In other parts of the world the story is very different. Long ago, people carried rabbits to places like Australia, where there were no natural checks to slow them down. There the rabbits bred so fast that they became one of the most common animals in the whole country. It is a good reminder that the same animal can need our help in one place and cause a big change to the land in another.