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The objective was to assess that potential health risk from Cd, Cu, and Pb, through the consumption of hunted red-legged partridge and wild rabbit meat, with special focus on the population of hunters and their relatives. Mineral content was analyzed by atomic absorption methods (F-AAS for Cu and GF-AAS for Cd and Pb) after microwave digestion of lyophilized samples. The average concentrations of these elements were 0.008 and 0.01 mg/kg for Cd; 1.41 and 1.63 mg/kg for Cu and 0.98 and 1.28 mg/kg for Pb in wild rabbit and red-legged partridge meat respectively. The dietary, risk assessment was performed by assuming two intake scenarios based on the obtained results of the survey on game meat consumption and the current maximum recommended intakes of Cd, Cu, and Pb, and then, the hazard quotients (THQ and TTHQ) were calculated. The data show that exposure to these metals from eating red-legged partridge and wild rabbit meat from a hunting provenance is relatively low and generally greater in the hunter population. The risk assessment revealed that moderate or low consumption of meat of these species does not offer a significant public health risk. Moreover, hazard quotients values for these metals of red-legged partridge and rabbit meat consumption in hunters and nonhunters are below 1. However, a high Pb content in the meat of these species and a high consumption may pose a greater health risk to hunters.

Background In the regular wildlife monitoring action carried out in the summer of the past few years at the Berlenga Island, wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) have been repeatedly found dead. However, the origin of those deaths was never investigated. Our aim was to investigate the cause of death of 11 rabbits collected between April and May 2016. Results While screening samples from rabbit carcasses for the major viral rabbit pathogens, five tested positive to RHDV2 but all were negative for RHDV and myxoma virus (MYXV). For six RHDV2-negative specimens, emaciation and parasitism were considered the most probable cause of death. Lesions identified in the RHDV2-positive rabbits included non-suppurative diffuse hepatic necrosis and pulmonary lesions varying from congestion and oedema of the lungs to interstitial pneumonia. Sequencing analysis of the vp60 gene obtained from two specimens showed identical vp60 sequences. Comparison with other known RHDV2 strains from public databases through BLAST analysis revealed a closer similarity with strains from Alentejo collected during 2013. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis showed that the 2016 strains from the archipelago have a higher resemblance with a group of strains mostly collected in the South of Portugal between 2013 and 2014. Conclusion The results suggest that RHDV2 may have been introduced on the Berlenga Island a few years ago, having evolved separately from mainland strains due to insularity.

Olfactory signalling is widespread among mammal inter- and intra-specific communication systems. Social mammals use latrines (faecal accumulations) as a communication system, which address the needs of individuals both inside and outside the social group. Latrines are commonly used as olfactory and visual signals for the delimitation of territories, and the location of these signals may thus provide useful clues for the study of the marking animals’ behaviour and the delimitation of a spatial framework for these studies. In this work, we have tested the application of indigestible faecal markers in order to define territorial boundaries marked by latrines in wild rabbit social groups. Different combinations of baits and markers were first tested on wild rabbits kept in captive conditions, and the best combinations were then applied to rabbits in semi-natural conditions in order to test their feasibility for use with wild populations. As one possible application of the method, Minimum Convex Polygons and Kernel density estimators were used to analyse the distribution of the latrines of three wild rabbit social groups in semi-natural conditions. The results of this showed that the marked bait method is a useful tool for exploring the territorial behaviour of social mammals that use latrines for communication. It can also provide useful information for the definition of spatial frameworks based on social structures, and is fast, straightforward, easy, cheap, and does not require specialised training.

About half a million rabbits are translocated in southwestern Europe every year for conservation and hunting purposes. However, the success of traditional rabbit restocking is generally extremely low, and this has been attributed to short-term predation by mammalian carnivores. Hence, recent recovery programs have tackled the problem of terrestrial predators with the use of exclusion fences, but no additional measures have been employed to avoid aerial predation. In this study, we have therefore conducted a field experiment to test the short-term effect of total predation exclusion in rabbit restocking enclosures, comparing rabbit abundance in plots which are only accessible to raptors (top-open plots) and plots which are accessible to neither carnivores nor raptors (top-closed plots). The results showed that the top-closed plots had higher rabbit abundance in the short term, and the highest difference in rabbit abundance between the two kinds of fences was attained in the first 2 weeks. We therefore conclude that the top-closed plots were an effective tool to increase rabbit abundance during the first weeks after release through the exclusion of raptor predation.

One of the main factors involved in the decline in the European wild rabbit in the Iberian Peninsula is the loss of suitable habitats caused by abandonment of agricultural and grazing activities. Nowadays, Mediterranean landscapes suffer from wildfires that affect extensive areas and produce considerable habitat changes. However, little is known about the influence of wildfires and post-fire treatments on rabbit abundance to address policies to recover their populations. To do so, we studied abundances of this species in four types of plots during three consecutive years after a wildfire in Catalonia (NE Spain): (A) unburnt forests, (B) burnt forests with removal of burnt trees but with branches left, (C) burnt forests with removal of burnt trees and branches, and (D) non-forested burnt plots. Rabbits progressively colonised burnt plots, where their abundance increased for at least 5 years after the fire, but decreased or even disappeared in unburnt ones, indicating that forest fires have a positive effect on rabbit populations. Although abundances did not differ between the three burnt plot types, plots with removal of burnt branches had the highest increase in abundance. In addition, soil covered by branches or by dense vegetation appeared negatively correlated with abundance, indicating that this could hinder rabbit movements, while some plant species could benefit rabbits by providing high quality food. Thus, post-fire treatments favourable to rabbit populations might therefore be a good way of increasing the conservation and economic value of areas affected by forest fires.

Wild rabbit scarcity in Spain is a serious problem due to its economic and ecological value; thus, management techniques to reinforce their populations are being implemented. Translocations are traditionally applied but high short-term mortality by predation makes them unsuccessful and increases their biological cost. An alternative to translocation would be to strengthen local reduced populations through habitat management (building artificial warrens and increasing food availability). Here, we test this method to determine its efficiency as an exportable protocol to recover wild rabbit populations. We compare two areas with and without artificial warrens and increased food availability and assess relative rabbit abundance by means of pellet counts. Results show that, during the 2 years following habitat management, rabbit numbers increased in the experimental plot in contrast to the not managed one, suggesting its effectiveness to reinforce low-density rabbit populations.

Wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) restocking is a common practice in management in France. However rabbits generally experience heavy mortality after release, which jeopardizes restocking efficiency. Release success is full only when introduced individuals produce offspring.

Genetic polymorphism of peptidases A, B, C, andD in the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)was assessed by horizontal starch gel electrophoresis,in a total of 1003 individuals comprising 16 Iberian and 2 French populations and 1 domestic stock.Twenty-five different alleles were detected: 6 in PEPA,4 in PEPB, 8 in PEPC, and 7 in PEPD. The highest valuesof observed heterozygosity averaged over the four loci were obtained for the southwestern Iberianpopulations and a clinal loss of variability in anortheastern direction was detected. A clear separationbetween the two putative subspecies O. c.cuniculus and O. c. algirus was notobtained.

The results of experiments designed to clarify the behavioral function of the odor of the secretion from the inguinal glands of rabbits,Oryctolagus cuniculus, are presented. Members of groups of female rabbits were smeared with odoriferous materials, and the behavior of their penmates towards them was recorded. Eight sources of natural rabbit odors and a commercial perfume were used in 180 tests involving 120 adult female wild-type rabbits. A high proportion of the animals smeared with the inguinal gland secretions from unfamiliar females were attacked by their pen-mates. In contrast, treatment with inguinal gland secretions from unfamiliar male rabbits; macerated inguinal gland materials from unfamiliar males and females, respectively; urine from unfamiliar females; and macerated anal gland material from unfamiliar females resulted in only minor disruption to the normal social relationships between the group members which was not significantly different to that caused by treatment with a commercial perfume.

1. The eye of a wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is stimulated by rapidly alternating a reference-light and a test-light. The ERG response can then be minimized by matching the stimulus intensity of the test-light to the stimulus intensity of the reference-light. 2. Spectral sensitivity measurements made by means of this ERG-null-detection method present additional evidence for photopic mechanisms in the rabbit's retina. 3. High flicker frequencies as well as blue adaptation result in a shift of the maximum spectral sensitivity from 500 to 520 nm; this shift indicates the presence of a green-sensitive cone system. 4. Adaptation to yellow light enhances the relative sensitivity between 400 and 450 nm because it selectively suppresses the activity of both rods and green-sensitive cones. This suggests the existence of blue-sensitive cones. 5. With the help of a computer model based on nomogram spectral sensitivity curves were constructed that yielded the best fit with our data. 6. The peaks of the nomograms were considered to coincide with the maximum sensitivities of the photoreceptor systems that contribute to the spectral sensitivity curves. These peak sensitivities were 425 nm (blue-sensitive cones), 498 nm (rods) and 523 nm (green-sensitive cones).

THE first successful introduction of the European wild rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, into Australia took place in 1859 when two dozen animals were imported into Geelong, Victoria1. Subsequent minor introductions may have occurred but the evidence indicates that existing populations are derived mainly from the Geelong colony2. Rabbit populations now occupy varied environments across the southern two-thirds of Australia3. These rabbits provide a good opportunity for the study of evolutionary divergences.

POPULATION studies of the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in New Zealand and elsewhere have emphasized the need for reliable methods of age determination. Since weight is a satisfactory criterion of the age of young rabbits up to 3–4 months, when they become sexually mature1. the sequence of epiphyseal fusion of bones was examined in an attempt to determine the age of older animals. This work was initiated by Watson and Tyndale-Biscoe2, who found that the epiphysis at the head of the tibia fused at 41 weeks (range 33–44 weeks). Further work by Tyndale-Biscoe3 (and unpublished work) showed that the epiphyses of all other long bones unite at about the same age or earlier than do those at the head of the tibia, but that the epiphyses of the vertebrae do not fuse to the centrum until later in life, and could therefore provide an age criterion for older animals.

SINCE my previous communication on this subject1various fresh data have thrown new light on the coprophagy or refection rhythm in wild rabbits. Taylor2 reported, that of a number of wild rabbits shot and examined for the presence in the stomach of soft faecal pellets such as are re-ingested immediately, those shot in the evening contained such pellets ; those shot in the morning did not. He suggested, therefore, that the rhythm in wild rabbits was the reverse of that found in domestic rabbits ; the resting period of the former being during the day, naturally this would be the time when soft or 'night' pellets are produced and swallowed.

PROFESSIONAL rabbit-catchers in Pembrokeshire, when asked what was the average number of faecal pellets dropped by the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) in 24 hr., estimated the ‘output’ to be between 20 and 50 pellets. They based their estimates of numbers of rabbits present in a warren on these figures for pellets visible on the ground; which figures had, of course, to be multiplied by the number of days during which, they believed, a faecal pellet survived above ground—about one week in wet, and several weeks in dry or frosty, weather—before it disintegrated or disappeared.

DURING investigations into the population dynamics of the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) on the island of Skokholm, Pembrokeshire, an abnormal condition of adipose tissue was observed. The condition is apparently unknown in rabbits elsewhere, except on the adjacent island of Skomer, and is hitherto undescribed.

LITTLE reliable information is available on the breeding cycle of the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in New Zealand, though there is a widely held popular belief, quoted by Marshall1, that in certain localities the animal breeds throughout the year. An investigation of the reproduction of the wild rabbit has been carried out on the Gwavas Forest area, thirty miles south-west of Napier in the Hawkes Bay Province of the North Island of New Zealand over the period March 1950–February 1952. During this time, 1,766 adult females were examined: a female having a paunched weight of more than 700 gm. was taken as adult, this being the lightest weight of any pregnant animal found.

REPORTS of recent experiments by Madsen1 and Eden2 have shown refection to be a normal physiological process in the laboratory rabbit. A few observations collected by me, while studying the ecology and population dynamics of the wild rabbit, suggest that this process also occurs in natural conditions. From Eden's experiments, 54–82 per cent of faeces passed are shown to be normally refected, the advantage of the process to the rabbit being equivalent to "chewing the cud". It is possible that there is a further ecological advantage, which operates under wild conditions.