Sexual and Aggressive Behaviour in the Wild Rabbit

Southern, H. N.

doi:10.1163/156853948x00092

Cited by 81 publications

(54 citation statements)

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“…Consistent with our directional data (Fig. 6), rabbits are known to minimise their exposure to strong winds (Southern 1940(Southern , 1948Rowley 1957;Wheeler et al 1981;Fraser 1992;Ballinger and Morgan 2002). Speck damage was strongly associated with herbfield, rather than fjaeldmark, reflecting the known relative abundance of rabbits (Copson et al 1981).…”

Section: Possible Causes Of Types Of Damagesupporting

confidence: 85%

Spatial and temporal variation in damage and dieback in a threatened subantarctic cushion species

et al. 2014

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Abstract.A decline was observed in the subantarctic Macquarie Island endemic cushion, Azorella macquariensis, during the summer of 2008-2009, resulting in the listing of the species as critically endangered in 2010. Photographs of A. macquariensis in the period 2009-2013 were used to (1) identify types of damage, (2) determine the likely causes of three distinct types of damage, (3) establish whether dieback was spreading from affected to unaffected sites and (4) find out whether dieback was associated with the expansion of Agrostis magellanica. Grey damage occurred on the most windexposed parts of cushions and on the most wind-exposed sites. Speck damage occurred in the opposite situations and was consistent in its location, attributes and timing with rabbit grazing. Yellow dieback was sporadic in its occurrence. Its symptoms were consistent with those of a pathogen. Yellow damage expanded between spring 2009 and autumn 2010, with neither grey nor speck damage increasing. Yellow damage was associated with a marked decline in live cushion cover in plots between 2010 and 2013. The cushion was not eliminated from any plots, despite increased cover of A. magellanica in plots with dead cushions. Only one site not affected by yellow damage in 2010 had become affected by 2013. Given these results, and given that yellow damage has been observed in the past, 2008-2010 may have been an infrequent extreme outbreak of a pathogen and/or a response of a pathogen to ongoing climatic change.

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Section: Possible Causes Of Types Of Damagesupporting

confidence: 85%

Spatial and temporal variation in damage and dieback in a threatened subantarctic cushion species

et al. 2014

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“…Aggressive behaviour is common in different animal species (Kutsukake, 2009), mainly in group-living species, such as the European wild rabbits (Southern, 1948). A dominance hierarchy exists between the females and a separate one between the males in European wild rabbits (Holst et al, 1999 and2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of performance and welfare of single-caged and group-housed rabbit does

Szendrő¹,

Mikó²,

Odermatt³

et al. 2013

Animal

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Although rabbit does are generally single housed on rabbit farms worldwide, it has been suggested by some specialists and recommendation of organic rabbit production systems that group housing of does is more comfortable and similar to the living conditions of the European wild rabbits. The aim of this experiment was to compare production of single-caged (S) and group-housed does (G). The S does were housed in commercial rabbit cages (floor area 0.32 m 2 and 0.3 m high). In treatment G, four does and one buck were housed in four pens measuring 7.7 m 2 (half of the floor was deep litter and the other half was plastic slat), with four nest boxes in each pen (n 5 16). In treatment S, approximately half of the does (n 5 18) were inseminated 2 days after kindling (S-33), whereas in the remaining does (n 5 16) AI was done 11 days after kindling (S-42). A single-batch system (all of the does in the group were inseminated on the same day) was used in both S treatments. Kindling rates were 77.6%, 85.2% and 45.6% in treatments S-33, S-42 and G, respectively (P , 0.05). During the experiment, the percentage of does that kindled 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 times were 17%, 25%, 17%, 25%, 17% and 0% (G); 0%, 0%, 0%, 8%, 69% and 23% (S-33); and 0%, 0%, 17%, 58% and 25% (S-42, in this treatment does had a maximum of four kindlings). There were no significant differences among treatments for litter size. In treatments S-33, S-42 and G, suckling mortality was 14.0%, 15.2% and 38.5%, respectively (P , 0.001); survival of does was 71%, 81% and 50% (P 5 0.084); and faecal corticosterone concentrations were 61, 54 and 175 nmol/g (P , 0.001). The high mortality of kits was associated with stress and aggressive behaviour of does, including scratching, biting or killing the kits, which resulted in the high rates of mortality and culling, as well as shorter lifespan of does. Because of high stress, increased mortality and morbidity, and low productivity, group housing of rabbit does resulted in poorer animal welfare and increased production costs, and therefore is not recommended.

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“…Spring is the time when many mammals are in their worst body condition, after surviving the harsher conditions of winter (21). The onset of the breeding season causes physiological stress for the males in terms of, e.g., increased aggression and mate guarding (29,23) and for the females in terms of, e.g., the physical demands of gestation and lactation. Both a poorer body condition and higher phys- iological stress could compromise the immune system and result in higher levels of disease in many mammal species in the breeding season (24).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clustering of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Rabbits and the Environment: How Hot Is a Hot Spot?

Judge

Kyriazakis

Greig

et al. 2005

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Clustering of pathogens in the environment leads to hot spots of diseases at local, regional, national, and international levels. Scotland contains regional hot spots of Johne's disease (caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis) in rabbits, and there is increasing evidence of a link between paratuberculosis infections in rabbits and cattle. The spatial and temporal dynamics of paratuberculosis in rabbits within a hot spot region were studied with the overall aim of determining environmental patterns of infection and thus the risk of interspecies transmission to livestock. The specific aims were to determine if prevalence of paratuberculosis in rabbits varies temporally between seasons and whether the heterogeneous spatial environmental distribution of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis on a large scale (i.e., regional hot spots) is replicated at finer resolutions within a hot spot. The overall prevalence of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in rabbits was 39.7%; the temporal distribution of infection in rabbits followed a cyclical pattern, with a peak in spring of 55.4% and a low in summer of 19.4%. Spatially, M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis-infected rabbits and, thus, the risk of interspecies transmission were highly clustered in the environment. However, this is mostly due to the clustered distribution of rabbits. The patterns of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in rabbits are discussed in relation to the host's socioecology and risk to livestock.

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Sexual and Aggressive Behaviour in the Wild Rabbit

Cited by 81 publications

References 0 publications

Spatial and temporal variation in damage and dieback in a threatened subantarctic cushion species

Spatial and temporal variation in damage and dieback in a threatened subantarctic cushion species

Comparison of performance and welfare of single-caged and group-housed rabbit does

Clustering of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Rabbits and the Environment: How Hot Is a Hot Spot?

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