The wanderers

Ed Cook takes a look at wild rabbits around world and the significant impact they have had

- Ed Cook

There is a wide variety of wild rabbits across the globe. They come in all shapes in sizes.

There is the jackrabbit, which looks like a cross between a brown hare and the European rabbit, and is native to the United States. It has varying degrees of population density across that vast country. There is also the rare and rarely seen Sumatran striped rabbit from Indonesia. Deforestation is said to be the reason for its decline.

There are many other wild species including the cottontail, pygmy, several other species of jackrabbit, such as the antelope, white-tailed and black-tailed rabbits, all found in the United States and Americas, the riverine, found in Africa, and the tapeti, also known as the Brazilian cottontail. Not all are prolific breeders and rabbit populations can fluctuate markedly. For example, the pygmy rabbit in north-west America is classed as endangered due to industrial farming. This is much the same for the volcano rabbit, found in the mountains of Mexico, and the riverine, sad to say.

Cautionary tale