Conservation Status:Introduced, common. They are regarded as a major agricultural pest.
Hertfordshire:Under recorded
Protection:No legal protection in Britain and landowners are required to prevent rabbits from damaging neighbours land.
General Information: Commonly found wherever they can burrow. The most suitable places are areas of short grass frequently beside scrub, woodland and hedgerows. Grazing can be beneficial to maintain the diversity of habitats by preventing scrub encroachment on chalk grassland and heathland but, in large numbers, they can cause considerable damage. Damage by rabbits is estimated to cost over £100 million/year. Numbers are expanding following a dramatic decline after the introduction of myxomatosis. Rabbits do not often survive over 3 years with most dying in their first year of life.
Threats: Myxamatosis is less virulent today but outbreaks still occur in Hertfordshire. Rabbit Viral Haemorrhagic disease was found in Britain for the first time in wild rabbits in 1994. It is not yet widespread and the full implications of the disease are not known. Rabbits are managed through gassing, trapping, ferreting, shooting and fencing and they have many natural predators such as weasels, stoats, foxes and polecats.
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