April 10, 2009 | 9 comments

Slide Show: Rabbits at Risk

What better time than Easter to familiarize yourself with rabbits in danger of extinction

By Coco Ballantyne

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EUROPEAN RABBIT

Two viral diseases, myxomatosis and rabbit hemorrhagic disease, combined with habitat loss and overhunting has led to the rapid demise of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which lives in Spain and Portugal; studies suggest population is now about 5 percent of what it was 50 years ago. This is bad news for the Iberian lynx and the imperial eagle, predators that dine on the bunnies and are now dangerously close to extinction, according to Smith. Although O. cuniculus may be in dire trouble in its native Spain and Portugal, it is thriving in other parts of the world where it has been introduced. The rabbit, however, is considered a pest in Australia, where it has pushed aside native animals by outcompeting them for food and shelter.

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