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.