“There is no single date that rabbits became domesticated, and any story that is predicated on a singular event is unlikely to be accurate.”
---Dr. Evan Irving-Pease, a researcher at the Oxford Department of Archeology
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The Early Domestication of Rabbits
The Early Domestication of Rabbits
Of all the many species of rabbits in the world, only the wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has been successfully domesticated. From this singular species, all domestic rabbit breeds are descended.
Romans are first documented as using rabbits as a food source when they invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 206 BCE. In the native Punic tongue, that area had been known as "the land of the rabbits" but to the Roman ear they heard "Hispania", an area that is today called Spain.
The Romans let their rabbits live in natural colonies in fenced-in areas that they called Leporarien. The Romans did not have separate terms to distinguish wild rabbits from domestic ones and instead referred to all rabbits as Lepus. These domestic rabbits were sometimes hunted as a game, which may be why the Roman word for sport was Ludus.
Archeological excavations of the Fishbourne Settlement (dating to 75 AD) indicate that high-born Roman women kept rabbits as pets, and there is evidence of unbutchered rabbits being buried with ceremony.
Rabbits took on spiritual and symbolic significance at this time. Boudica of the Iceini, releases a rabbit before a crowd as she prepares for war against the Romans. Pliny the Elder writes of rabbit meat being a cure for sterility. Rabbits are given as a gift at weddings, their likenesses engraved on bowls and spoons and when used in classical paintings were attributed to the presence of Venus or Diana.
The French Influence
The French Influence
The most commonly repeated story about the origin of rabbits is that in France during the 5th century, there was a monastery that viewed rabbit meat as the same as fish, allowing for it to be eaten during Lent. This led to a boom in commercial rabbit breeding and regional differences develop.
The exact date that the angora rabbit originated is unknown, but in 1723, shipping records indicate that an English ship brought several "Ankara Wooler" rabbits into the Bordeaux region of France. These stately eye-catching rabbits quickly caught on with the nobility and even Marie Antionette was known to own a few.
The Age of Expansion
The Age of Expansion
The beauty and usefulness of Angora rabbits allowed them to spread around the world. However, it has not been an easy journey for the bunnies.
Angoras along with other domestic rabbits were brought to Australia by the British during the mid1800s. The angoras did not thrive there and in 1859, when Thomas Austin released his (nonangora) rabbits into the wild, they caused irrevocable damage to the Australian environment and led to laws limiting the rabbit industry.
The United States faces a similar problem in Washington when two men (identified as "Breedlove and Guard") released 3,000 domesticated rabbits in 1903 on the island of San Juan. By 1970 the feral rabbit population on the island had soared to over 1 million rabbits, causing damage to native plant species and agricultural crops
In the late 20th century and early 21st century, modern science has created diseases (such as RHDV) to combat these feral populations, but unfortunately, domestic rabbits and native north American rabbits (such as the jackrabbit and cottontail) are also susceptible to the disease.
The Influence of the World Wars
The Influence of the World Wars
In the 20th century, keeping rabbits became more popular, as rations during the war caused more people to need a reliable home-based food source. Rabbits, unlike many other sorts of livestock, can be kept in urban and suburban areas. By the end of the war, the rabbit was the third most popular pet in Britian, after the cat and dog.
Angora rabbit wool was prized for its lightweight insulating properties and was used by both sides as a lining for fighter pilot jackets during the World Wars.
To maximize the productivity of angoras, the Germans launched the "Angora Project", where thousands of rabbits were selectively bred to create a new larger variety of angora. Because these lines were produced in concentration camps, angora gained a negative reputation in the West and fell out of fashion by the end of the 1950s.
The Modern Age
The Modern Age
As of 2001, Angora rabbit wool was the third largest animal fiber industry in the world after sheep's wool and mohair.
Of the 8,500 tons of angora wool produced annually, 90% of that comes from China, with France, Finland, Argentina, Chile, and India being some of the other leading producers.
In 2013, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) launched a campaign to ask FarFetch to ban the international trade of angora due to issues with housing and the usage of a painful method of wool removal. In response to the PETA campaign and the popularity of the internet, many cottage-level angora producers began to educate the public on pain-free ways of removing angora wool.
In 2014 an Angora rabbit (owned by Dr Betty Chu of California) was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records after its fur measured 36.5 centimeters (or around 14 inches) in length.
In 2023, Rarity Fibers was established as a yarn rabbitry that turns away from cages and promotes an open colony housing plan. Recent advances in animal nutrition have been taken into consideration to give the rabbits a more natural, grass-based diet with 24/7 access to hay. Wool is harvested using a pain-free plucking process and yarn is made by hand, using no electricity to minimize the carbon footprint of the end product.
A Look to the Future
A Look to the Future
Due to growing public concerns about the environmental impact of synthetic fibers, many individuals around the world have started turning towards natural, organic, and sustainable textiles. This is coupled with the continued growth of crafters and DIYers who seek to make things locally with domestic materials instead of buying imported goods that were manufactured in faraway factories.
A rise in urbanization has created a dilemma with the amount of land needed to supply a domestic fiber industry. Angora poses a solution to this problem because they require a smaller area than other fiber animals such as goats, sheep or alpacas.
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