Wild rabbits face welfare harms from myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD), while supporting important ecological roles in UK landscapes.
Myxomatosis in wild rabbits causes blindness from swollen eyelids, inability to feed, and death from secondary infections and starvation over 1-2 weeks — one of the most prolonged and visible wild animal disease deaths. RHD2 causes rapid liver failure and death within 24-72 hours. Both diseases cause mass mortality events. The suffering of individual wild rabbits dying from these diseases is significant and largely invisible. Vaccination of pets reduces disease reservoir effects.