RABBITS LIKE CROWDS

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29170, 2 April 1960, Page 17

RABBITS LIKE CROWDS

Study Of Social Habits "The Press" Special Service WELLINGTON, March 31. Wild rabbits, unlike other mammals, thrive when crowded, say two scientists in a study published in the New Zealand Journal of Science. The study seems to indicate that the more the rabbit population is reduced the poorer the condition of the rabbits becomes. This result, say the scientists, is surprising. It may also be welcome news to farmers engaged in the war against the rabbit. The scientists, both from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, are Dr. K. A. Wodzicki, of the animal ecology section, and Mr H. S. Roberts, of the applied mathematics laboratory. They found that the more rabbits there were to the acrC the better their condition. They suggest two reasons for this: the social habits of the rabbit may require a certain minimum population density for the well-being of the population; and in the New Zealand climate rabbits must live in dense populations if they are to produce and maintain neatly cropped short grass and bare soil essential for their well-being. The study adds: “Contrary to what is known of other mammalian species, such as rats or mice, crowding results in an improvement of the condition of the rabbit, especially the young. “It is suggested that a fairly high population density is essential for the welfare of the rabbit.”