Wild rabbits are a keystone species in British ecosystems yet are also agricultural pests managed through lethal methods including myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease. Their welfare raises complex ethical questions.
Wild rabbit welfare involves both the suffering caused by disease — particularly myxomatosis — and the welfare implications of control methods. Myxomatosis causes one of the most distressing deaths documented in any British wild mammal. Rabbits found in the late stages of myxomatosis in gardens or fields are experiencing significant suffering that can be ended humanely. The ethical status of deliberate disease introduction for pest control is genuinely contested — it causes individual welfare harm while potentially providing ecological benefit by preventing overpopulation. Honest engagement with this tension is required rather than either dismissing rabbit welfare or ignoring legitimate agricultural and ecological concerns.