European rabbit populations are declining due to myxomatosis, viral hemorrhagic disease, and habitat loss, affecting predators that depend on them.
Individual rabbits dying from viral diseases experience disease-specific suffering that varies in severity. Myxomatosis causes prolonged suffering while VHD causes more rapid death. The population decline of rabbits creates a ripple of welfare impacts across the predator community that depends on them, including lynx, eagles, foxes, and other species that experience food shortage and reduced reproductive success.