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A majority of females first breed the spring following birth, but 10% to 36% of females breed as juveniles (i.e., summer of the year they were born). [23] Males will mate with more than one female. Female rabbits can have one to seven litters of one to twelve young, called kits, in a year; however, they average three to four litters per year ...
Selective breeding has been used since ancient times in efforts to raise rabbits with different characteristics, and while domestic rabbits are typically larger than wild rabbits, [113] the various breeds of domestic rabbit exist in a range of sizes from "dwarf" to "giant". [114]
The various breeds of the European rabbit have been developed to suit each of these products; the practice of raising and breeding rabbits as livestock is known as cuniculture. Rabbits are seen in human culture globally, appearing as a symbol of fertility, cunning, and innocence in major religions, historical and contemporary art.
Breeding in marsh rabbits occurs year-round. Typical brood sizes are 2 to 4 young with a gestation period of 30 to 37 days. [ 7 ] Adult females produce up to 6 litters per year with an average annual production of 15 to 20 young. [ 8 ]
WDFW developed techniques for breeding wild and captive-bred pygmy rabbits in protected semi-wild enclosures on wildlife areas to increase numbers of individuals for release. From 2011 to 2013, biologists translocated 109 pygmy rabbits from Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Wyoming to the breeding enclosures in Douglas and Grant Counties, along with the ...
Wild rabbits have an average lifespan of 1 to 2 years, according to Blue Cross. Their lifespans are shorter due to environmental impacts, such as predators, food access and a lack of safe conditions.
The New England cottontail is a medium-sized rabbit almost identical to the eastern cottontail. [8] [9] The two species look nearly identical, and can only be reliably distinguished by genetic testing of tissue, through fecal samples (i.e., of rabbit pellets), or by an examination of the rabbits' skulls, which shows a key morphological distinction: the frontonasal skull sutures of eastern ...
The rabbits remain active all year. When spooked a rabbit will run a couple meters then hide and freeze with ears erect, if further pursued the rabbit will hop away in a semicircular path to try and trick the predator. The only behavior to reduce predation is limiting active time to dusk and dawn, and the semicircular path they hop when chased.