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The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a key species of great ecological and economical interest in the Mediterranean ecosystem. During the last decades important changes in the land use have transformed part of its natural habitat, a problem that has been aggravated by the incidence of two viral diseases, myxomatosis and hemorrhagic disease (RHD) causing a major decline in the populations of Mallorca. The conservation of the species has been based on certain occasions in the realization of repopulations. This paper shows the results of a study initiated in Mallorca whose ultimate purpose is to minimize the risks associated with this management measure, and establish the methodological basis for a correct recovery of the species. Therefore, a sampling of the rabbit populations susceptible of being donors has been carried out, analyzing their genetic and sanitary characteristics, at the same time that a survey of the situation of the wild rabbit populations of Mallorca has been carried out. In this way, the hunting administration of Mallorca has developed during the years 2016 and 2019 the field rabbit experimental breeding from six donor populations in controlled conditions of semi-freedom in the Center Cinegètic de Mallorca. The rabbits obtained have served to repopulate areas in which rabbit density was low or zero. The losses caused by the new variant of the RHD (virus RHDV-2) in the breeding nuclei, and the predation in the areas of repopulation, have been the most important causes of mortality. Subsequently, lower mortality rates have been observed, suggesting a greater natural immune response capacity to the RHD, and the following repopulations carried out on the island until now have shown high rates of survival and adaptation of the specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]