European rabbits are social, ecologically important prey animals facing threats from disease, habitat loss, and hunting. Understanding their welfare helps direct conservation and management efforts.
Wild rabbit welfare is complex because rabbits are both significant prey animals whose abundance supports entire predator communities and the target of disease, predation, and hunting. The diseases that periodically devastate rabbit populations — myxomatosis and RHD — cause suffering at population scale that is difficult to address directly. Vaccination programs for wild rabbits have been piloted in some European countries to support population recovery, creating a novel welfare intervention in wild animal management. For rabbits subject to hunting and pest control, welfare considerations favor quick-kill methods and oppose snaring, which causes prolonged suffering. The ecological importance of rabbits as keystone prey species means their welfare and conservation are tightly linked — healthy, abundant rabbit populations support predator welfare and ecosystem function.