Common Rabbit Research Paper

The European or Common Rabbit, also known as Oryctolagus Cuniculus, is an example of an invasive species. An invasive species is a non-native species introduced to an area where it has no natural predators; its population grows quickly and takes over. The European/Common Rabbit is usually grayish brown with a pale underside but some are completely white. They have long, upright, straight ears. They are typically thirteen and half inches to twenty inches long and their tails measures to around four centimeters to eight centimeters long. They can live to around nine years old. Some of their adaptations include flexible, weak necks that allow the head to rotate in different directions very quickly, high set eyes that allow them to detect food and danger easily, flexible limbs that allow …show more content…
The virus was spread by mosquitos. It caused the rabbits to die from hemorrhage or seizures- they usually die in about ten days. At first up to 99% of the rabbits were killed. But after a while the rabbits developed a genetic resistance to the virus- now only 40% of the rabbits were dying. In 1984 a new method of was founded in China. By 1995, Rabbit Hemorrhage Disease (RHD) was being utilized to lower the rabbit populations. The disease caused the rabbits to develop blood clots in the lungs, heart and kidneys. It was spread by flies. It ended up killing up to 90% of the rabbits. But that number lessened in time because the virus had little impact on cooler places where there are not a lot of mosquitos. About two years later, Calicivirus was introduced, but it was not effective because the rabbits developed a resistance to the virus. In 2000. Researchers in Italy discovered a new strain of Calicivirus. It has since spread across Europe, the United States and Uruguay. Though the Calicivirus research cost more than twenty million dollars, it has been working because it's has saved Australian agriculture over one billion dollars in the past thirteen