Home range of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in three contrasting French populations

Abstract: Despite their pest status in numerous areas throughout the World, the populations of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) have strongly decreased in South Western Europe since the mid-20th century. Such a decrease constitutes a major threat on top predators and calls for a better understanding of its mechanisms to provide suitable management responses. Infectious diseases have been invoked as the main responsible factors, but they cannot by themselves explain the magnitude of this decrease. Habitat fragmentation may indeed act as a synergetic factor, and habitat use studies are needed to better understand the impact of fragmentation on rabbit population dynamics. We investigated the variability of home range size with respects to age, sex and season in three wild populations of rabbits using telemetry. Home ranges were smaller in the highest density populations (7333 and 6878 vs. 20,492m2) suggesting differences in habitat quality between the populations. In addition, home range sizes were larger during the reproductive season for both sexes, and adults tended to have smaller home ranges than juveniles. Clearly, the home range sizes reported here were smaller than those previously reported in rabbits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]