Volcano Rabbit

True Wild Life | Volcano Rabbit | The Volcano Rabbit also known as teporingo or zacatuche (Romerolagus diazi) is a small rabbit that resides in the mountains of Mexico. Volcano Rabbits are the second smallest rabbit in the world, only the pygmy rabbit is smaller.

The Volcano Rabbit lives at a high altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level. Grasslands have expanded into the highlands, making it difficult for the rabbit to find food and make their nest holes. Although the Volcano rabbits are not found outside of Mexico there are a handful of isolated populations away from the slopes of the volcanoes but these are very few and far between. The four volcano slopes where these unique rabbits reside are the Tlaloc, El Pelado, Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl volcano slopes. 

Volcano Rabbits make their nests deep in the grass. Not only do they eat the grass, but they also use it to hide from their enemies. Volcano Rabbits feed on zacaton grasses, herbs and the bark of alder trees. During the rainy season they will also eat corn and oats.

Volcano Rabbits breed throughout the year with a peak during the warm summer. After a gestation period of 38 - 40 days, they will give birth to 1 - 3 young. At birth the youngsters are covered in fur but their eyes are closed. They are weaned after approximately 20 days and they reach sexual maturity at 4 months old.

Another problem is that the Volcano Rabbits live on an active volcano. If this volcano were to erupt, it would wipe out their small population. So, zoos and preservation centers are working quickly to breed more Volcano Rabbits.

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Amami Rabbit

 

True Wild Life | Amami Rabbit | The Amami Rabbit  or Amamino kuro usagi, also known as the Ryukyu Rabbit, is a primitive dark-furred rabbit which is only found in Amami Ōshima and Toku-no-Shima in Japan. The dark-furred Amami Rabbit is known as a living fossil. Its characteristics are identical to rabbits who lived five million years ago. With its small ears and dark eyes the Amami Rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) contrasts greatly with its more familiar fluffy, white relatives, and yet it's the Amami's distinctive features that make this rabbit so important to the study of the animal world. The Amami Rabbit has remained essentially unchanged since the Miocene Epoch of the Neogene Period, or approximately five million years. It is believed that its ancestors diverged from other leporids, or rabbits and hares, approximately 20 million years ago.

The Amami Rabbit has thick, wooly, dark brown fur that takes on a reddish shade on its underbelly as it ages. It has small ears and small eyes and short legs, but a large, stocky body. It also has a longer face, or snout, than most rabbits. Amami Rabbits do not have tails. They do, however, have long, curved, inch-long nails.

Baby Rabbits are called kits, kittens, or bunnies. Some sources say the Amami Rabbit only has one kit at a time, and other sources say they have two to three, but it is agreed that they generally have two litters each year. The mother builds a den lined with plant materials and tufts of fur then seals the top with the same material so it looks like the rest of the forest floor. Like other rabbits, the mother leaves her offspring to hunt and only returns every other night in an effort to keep predators from locating her den. She can even feed the kit without completely uncovering the den. She unseals the den when the kit is between four and seven weeks old and the baby rabbit joins its mother on the evening hunt for food.

The Amami Rabbit eats grass, fresh branches, and nuts. The Amami Rabbit raises its offspring in rabbit holes. Except at times when the mother feeds milk to her offspring, she will cover the rabbit hole with dirt to conceal it. Isn't that clever!

The reason why the Amami Rabbit retains its primitive form is because this form best suits them for life on the island. But as more people came to the island, the environment started to change. People continued to cut down trees, wiping out sources of food and refuge for the Amami Rabbit. Amami Rabbits are also frequently attacked by mongooses, which were originally brought to the island to exterminate the Habu, a venoemous snake. Today, the Amami Rabbit is on the brink of extinction.

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Rabbit

True Wild Life | Rabbit | Rabbits are small mammals found naturally in Europe, South Africa, Sumatra and Japan. Rabbits are also often found in the desert regions of the Middle East where the rabbits inhabit the greener parts of the deserts where there is enough food and water for the rabbits to survive. Rabbits are herbivores that feed on mainly on grass, but rabbits also eat nuts and berries and often fruit and vegetables. Rabbits dig burrows into the ground where the rabbit hides and stores food, and also gives birth to and raises the baby rabbits.

Today, the rabbit is a popular pet particularly with young children due to the rabbits calm and quiet nature. Rabbits are natures lawnmowers and can eat grass all day long. It is vital that pet rabbits eat enough grass as the grass is not only good for them, but also helps to keep the teeth of the rabbit healthy. Rabbit teeth grow constantly and if the rabbit is not able to gnaw on things to keep them down, then their teeth can grow extremely long which causes pain and often death to the rabbit. The average rabbit lives to about 8 years old when kept as a pet, but many wild rabbits do not live as long due to the fact that the rabbit is prey to many predators including cats, dogs and humans. Rabbits are also prone to myxomatosis, a disease that causes the rabbit to rapidly develop tumors which quickly results in death. Pet rabbits should be vaccinated against the disease every 6 months to a year which prevents the disease from becoming fatal should the rabbit catch it.

Rabbits are seen as pests by farmers and gardeners alike due to their destructive nature when they are around lush vegetation. In Australia, the myxomatosis virus was deliberately introduced as a form of pest control for the numerous rabbits that were inhabiting and eating their way through the plant life. Today their are more than 50 different species of rabbit and the number continues to increase as the selective breeding of pet rabbits becomes more popular. The smallest species of domestic rabbit is the mini lop which weighs around 5 lbs, and the largest species of domestic rabbits is the flemish giant rabbit which weighs between 5 kg and 9kg and is the largest species of rabbit in the world.

Rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. Rabbits are well known for their quick and successful breeding with the average gestation period of the rabbit being just over a month, with the female rabbit then giving birth to an average of 6 babies.

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Hare

True Wild Life | Hare | The hare, closely related to the rabbit, is a small mammal found primarily in the Northern hemisphere. Although there are different species of hare found all over the world, the hare is most commonly found in Europe and North America with the Arctic Hare found inhabiting the freezing climates within the Arctic Circle. The hare is one of the fastest of all the smaller animals, with hares being able to move at speeds of around 45mph. The strong hind legs of the hare, combined with the large feet of the hare give the hare the ability to run so quickly. The hare is also able to jump over large distances with great ease.

The hare differs from the rabbit mainly in size, as hares are much larger than the average bunny rabbit. The baby hares are also born with their eyes open and a full coat of fur, and these hare babies are often able to hop about after just a few minutes in the outside world. Hares have very long ears with along with their accurate sense of smell, allow the hare to detect any oncoming predators often before the predators have even noticed the hare. The hare then hops very quickly, in a similar way to a kangaroo, in order to make an escape to safety.

There are over 30 different species of hare found close to farmland and open forests worldwide. The hare is a very adaptable animal as there are species of hare also found in desert regions and of course, the bitterly cold Arctic Tundra. Due to the size and speed of the hare, the hare is generally not a first choice meal for many predators although there are a number of animals that will hunt hares. The predators of the hare include large birds of prey and wild dogs, and also humans who will often hunt hares both to eat and for pest control.

The hare is generally a calm and docile animal, as hares spend most of their time resting and foraging for food. The hare mainly eats plant matter (grass being one of the favourite foods of the hare) but hares also eat seeds, vegetables and fruit in order to fill them up. Hares have often been used as symbolic signs, the definitions of which differ with cultures, and hare are also one of the most common animals used in folklore and stories in many different cultures around the world.

Unlike rabbits, hares give birth to their young in nest on the ground rather than in burrows below the ground, which allows baby hares to become accustomed to a life of self-protection as the hares are not born in the safety of an underground burrow. Baby hares are often able to look after themselves from a very early age.

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