Rabbit History 2nd

At the turn of the 20th century, rabbit history took a significant turn when breeding rabbits became a popular activity.  Breeding the Belgian Hare (actually a rabbit that looks like a hare) became a big craze.  Beatrix Potter had pet Belgian hares which were the inspiration for her Peter Rabbit stories.  Breeding clubs were formed, and from this developed what is today the American Rabbit Breeding Association which has recognized 45 official rabbit breeds.

In 1912 the classification of rabbits as Rodentia was changed because of their “peg” teeth (a second set of incisors that rodents do not have) and they were given their own category, Lagomorpha.  With the development of DNA science, the rabbit’s DNA has been shown to be closer to that of a primate than a rodent.

During the 1920's rabbit fur became a big craze.  Also, felt hats were very popular and rabbit pelts were used to make them.  Fringe from rabbit fur was use extensively, and even piano sounding hammers were made from rabbit skin.  The rabbit fur industry experienced its ups and downs, but with popular opinion now unfavorable toward fur coats it has become a small industry.

In WWI, and during the Great Depression and WWII, people were encouraged by governments to raise rabbits to help feed themselves, and also the soldiers.  In 1944 twenty-eight  million were raised in the United States alone.  But after WWII when other meats again became available the demand for rabbit meat declined considerably and has stayed minimal ever since.  During this time of widespread rabbit raising, bunnies became popular pets but were considered animals to be kept outside. 

Rabbit history of the mid-20th century has been a dismal one for the wild rabbit.  Because they had been transported to locations where their natural enemies were absent, they multiplied at alarming rates and became pests to the agriculture industry.  It is said ten wild rabbits can eat the equivalent of one sheep.  Rabbits were killed by guns, traps, and imported predators like dogs, weasels, and ferrets.     Australia is the best known scenario for rabbit overpopulation.  They even built the Great Barrier Fence out of wire-netting three times the length of the Great Wall of China, but it did not work.  So in 1950 a biological solution was tried by releasing the myxoma virus, a disease carried by mosquitoes and fleas which killed 99% of Australia’s wild rabbits.  This virus was also released in France by a farmer which resulted in the death of 98% of the wild rabbits in Europe and England.  It also was lethal to domestic rabbits.  Even today in Queensland, Australia it is against the law to own a pet rabbit, and in New Zealand rabbit ownership is outlawed altogether.

The 20th century also gave rise to scientific experimentation using lab rabbits.  In 1992 a rabbit was the second animal to be successfully cloned.  Because of the work of animal rights groups and the advances in Science, the vast majority of lab animals experimented on today are rats and mice.

Today's Rabbit History

Rabbit history turn a very positive turn in the 1980’s when Marinell Harriman coined the term “house rabbit” in her book House Rabbit Handbook.  The house rabbit movement officially began with the founding of the House Rabbit Society which today has over 8,000 members. 

The idea that rabbits can live indoors is still a very novel concept to most people.  We have had house rabbits since the late 1980’s and even today our family, friends and acquaintances think we are strange for being so enthusiastic about them - especially since our home has developed into the Mid-South Bunny Museum.  If you have not yet owned a house rabbit, we invite you to join the house rabbit movement.

Rabbit History

Rabbit history records date back to the Phoenicians (3,000 B.C.), whose sailors discovered rabbits in a place they named “land of the seraphs”  because the rabbits there reminded them of that animal.  From that name came the name Hispania, which is today Spain.

Rabbit history moved on to the Romans who built their empire on military might.  They used rabbit meat to help feed their soldiers, and even developed enclosed wall areas called “leporaria” to keep wild rabbits readily accessible.

Middle Ages Rabbit History

Rabbit history then moved on to the Middle Ages when the monasteries began keeping leprosaria.  Here first domestication of the European wild rabbit takes place because of breeding them for certain traits like weight and fur color.  There are accounts of Medieval women among the feudal gentry keeping domesticated rabbits for pets.

Rabbits were introduced to Great Britain in the 13th century.  By the 16th century King Henry VIII had leporaria so large he could hunt in them.  His daughter, Queen Elizabeth, kept “rabbit islands”, islands in lakes and rivers where rabbits could flourish.  This is where Coney Island in New York got its name because coney is a name for rabbit (the name for rabbit used in the Authorized Version).  Today there are over 800 rabbit islands in the oceans and lakes of the world.

The Worldwide Spreading Of Rabbits

Rabbit history moved on to the 17th and 18th century when the world explorers took the European rabbit to foreign lands.  It was Captain James Cook who first brought rabbits to Australia in the 1770’s.  Today rabbits can be found in every conceivable place on the planet from the desert to the high mountains because of their ability to convert varied plant life into nutritious food.  In the Arctic regions rabbits live on seaweed.  Rabbits became one of the top game animals in the world, and they still are today.

During the Victorian age of the 19th century, as the Industrial Revolution brought people off the farms and into the urban areas, it became popular among the rising middle class to have rabbits for pets.  A romantic attitude toward rabbits developed at this time because rabbits gave the city dwellers a sense of being connected to the country.  Businesses arose that catered to the rabbit owners, and they promoted their wares by associating rabbits with children and innocence.  This perception persisted into the 20th century to the point where it now dominates the way rabbits are perceived by the public.  Today the bunny is the number one symbol associated with newborn babies, more so than teddy bears.