Wild rabbit populations are affected by myxomatosis, rabbit hemorrhagic disease, and land management practices that affect individual welfare at scale.
Myxomatosis causes prolonged suffering in individual rabbits — inflammation, blindness, and neurological damage before death over 1-2 weeks. Affected wild rabbits are often visible during daylight, suggesting immune compromise. While vaccination has limited effectiveness in wild populations, reducing stress from habitat disturbance improves resilience. Affected animals found suffering can be humanely dispatched.