The European Rabbit in South-Western Australia. III. Survival.

1985 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
SH Wheeler ◽  
DR King
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Live Trapping

The survival of Oryctolagus cuniculus was investigated at 2 sites in the southern part of Western Australia using live-trapping. Winter myxomatosis appears to have been a major factor in determining the changes in population size, through its effect on the survival of young rabbits.

Obsevations on the behaviour of the european rabbit flea, Spilopsullus cuniculi (Dale), ona natural population of wild rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.), in Australia

1971 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
RT Williams
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Natural Population ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Rabbit Population ◽  
Group A

The behaviour of S, cuniculi was studied on a natural rabbit population present on an island in Lake Bathurst, N.S.W. Four individually marked groups of fleas and an unmarked control group, a total of 454 in all, were released onto five rabbits trapped at one location. Surveys of the rabbits and their fleas were carried out during the first, second, eighth, and fourteenth weeks after the fleas were released. Rabbit breeding before the fourteenth week resulted in an increase, due to breeding, in the number of unmarked fleas recovered at that time. During weeks one, two, and eight, 316 rabbits, equivalent to three times the estimated population size, were examined for fleas, and only 77 were recovered. Of these, 64 (88 %) were found on rabbits trapped within 25 yd of the point at which they were released. Nine rabbits resident in this area accounted for 52 of these 64 fleas, and there were frequent changes in the degree and composition of the infestations of these rabbits. Two rabbits upon which fleas had been released had lost 94 and 96 % of their fleas within 10 days. It is suggested that these results indicate that many fleas were living freely within the rabbit burrows in the immediate area in which they were released.

The ecology of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in coastal southern Western Australia

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie E. Twigg ◽  
Tim J. Lowe ◽  
Gary R. Martin ◽  
Amanda G. Wheeler ◽  
Garry S. Gray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Demographic Changes ◽  
High Rainfall ◽  
Nonbreeding Season ◽  
Exponential Rates ◽  
Free Ranging

Demographic changes in three free-ranging rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations were monitored over 4 years in southern Western Australia. Peak densities followed periods of high rainfall and pasture biomass. The breeding season was prolonged, often extending from at least April to November, with some pregnancies occurring outside this period. Fecundity, determined by the autopsy of pregnant offsite rabbits and the known length of each breeding season, appeared to be relatively high, with the potential for 34–39 kittens doe-1 year-1; however, because not all females are pregnant in all months, the overall productivity of these populations was estimated at 25–30 kittens adult female-1 year-1. Exponential rates of increase varied from 0.13 to 0.30 during the breeding periods and –0.05 to –0.14 during the nonbreeding season. Kitten survival was generally low whereas some adults lived for more than 5 years. Two patterns of myxomatosis were observed: annual epizootics of the disease (3 of 4 years) and an epidemic that slowly spread over many months. European rabbit fleas were most abundant during winter–spring and attained highest densities on adult female rabbits.

Mother-Young and Within-Litter Relations in the European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus

2008 ◽  
pp. 211-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amando Bautista ◽  
Margarita Martínez-Gómez ◽  
Robyn Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
European Rabbit
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