Caza - Conejo - Oryctolagus cuniculus

Characteristics

The weight of native Tenerife rabbits ranges from 800 grams for young rabbits to 1,100 grams for adults. They vary between 50 centimetres (young rabbits) and 78 centimetres (adult rabbits) in length. The animals' size depends on the area they live in, with those in the north being larger than those in the south. A table of rabbits' weights and measurements by area is shown in an adjoined document.

The fur is greyish-brown on the back and white on the belly. The colour of wild rabbit fur varies according to the area where they live. Fur tends to be darker in the northern area of the island and lighter in the south. Rabbit fur mutates naturally, which is why we can see the occasional black rabbit (with lots of melanin), brown rabbit (diluted melanin) or white rabbit (an albino). This occurs in only one out of every one thousand rabbits, however. Wild rabbits with coats of other colours are also found in the country. This happens when tame rabbits are set free and cross-breed with wild rabbits. These hybrid rabbits are much larger than ordinary wild rabbits.

Rabbits travel short distances from their hiding places, which is why they run in short, powerful, zig-zagging spurts. They need alternative hiding places with several entrances to defend themselves from hunters and their dogs.

Ecology

Wild rabbits are widely distributed across Tenerife Island, occupying 95% of the island's surface. The highest densities of rabbits are to be found in areas where crops grow and in safety zones where hunting is prohibited. This causes serious damage to crops and requires the adoption of measures to keep harmful populations under control. Excessive hunting in other areas causes widespread rabbit diseases, however, and extremely low rabbit densities. Rabbit diseases are spread by moving vehicles, dogs and hunters.

Rabbits consume vast quantities of grasses and herbs, as well as roots, bulbs, buds and bark in winter. They are particularly fond of the tender shoots of any plant and thus cause an enormous amount of damage to young crops. Because they are strictly herbivores, rabbits are key actors in maintaining the proper balance of plant species required by certain communities of meadows, shrubs and prairies, although their ability to select their favourite food also makes them harmful to crops.

Social organisation and reproduction

When the appropriate soil is available, rabbits dig burrows and make warrens that can accommodate large colonies comprising many family members. Smaller families of 4 to 6 members are the norm, however. The reproductive cycle depends on the availability of tender green plants high in water and protein content. That is why the courtship and mating season in the south typically commences with the first October rains. Dominating males couple with a higher number of females. Normal gestation is 30 days. In their winter burrows, female rabbits produce three to five nesting kits (baby rabbits) – in each litter –, with kits reaching adult size in three months. The number of litters per year varies from three to five, depending on the climate, weather conditions and food resources.

Hunting management

There are several methods used in hunting: Canary Islands hounds – the most sustainable method –; dogs and ferrets; and with a gun, ferret and dog. The abundance of species has diminished considerably in the past few decades owing to urbanization, over-hunting and uncontrolled restocking that has spread the transmission of farm rabbit diseases to their wild counterparts. Specimen density has remained low for the last three seasons. Hunting associations and hunters need to fight to save wild rabbit populations by making hunting sustainable, enhancing rabbit habitats, controlling anthropophilic predators and participating in population monitoring by making rabbit censuses, contributing biological samples and completing the data on sample envelopes and game logs.