He "jurassic park rabbit" reported by farmers is just one more of the problems in the primary sector. And probably not the worst

If we pay attention to the etymology that is conventionally it is credited as responsible for the name of Spain, the land formerly known as Hispania would derive its name from the abundance of rabbits. More than two millennia later, rabbits are assuming A real headache for farmers in a good part of the country, but perhaps it is one more drop in a glass that is about to overflow.

What about the rabbits? The Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG) has sounded the alarm due to the situation that many peninsular farmers are experiencing due to the last plague of rabbits that devastates a good part of the country.

In a statement issued this week, the coordinator explains that the phenomenon has already affected ten Autonomous Communities. All except the insular communities, the north coast and Extremadura. More than 325,000 hectares would have been affected by this plague according to the data offered by COAG.

The farmers explain that these animals tunnel under the fences of the properties to sneak into the orchards and feed on the crops, “they make their burrow inside the fence itself, so the obstacle helps them not to leave that area and thus protect themselves from predators,” he explains in statements collected by The Independent Javier Fatás, responsible for Wild Fauna of the COAG.

Risk to crops… and to people.

Farmers argue that this pest involves a double risk. In the first place, since the problem has not become temporary but systemic. Plagues of this type have been repeated on numerous occasions. A little over a year ago, for example, residents of Carabanchel Alto, an area that cannot be considered rural in any sense, suffered an infestation of these animals and the fear that parasitic diseases could use these animals as a way to end up infecting humans.

He risk of zoonoses and other consequences for human health is real. The rabbits can carry and transmit bacteria like Pasteurella multocida, which have the ability to affect humans. They have also been linked to cases of dermatophytosis, ringworm; or with cryptosporidiosis, a disease that affects the digestive system, causing diarrhea. Rabbits can also carry ticks, which in turn can affect humans and other animals.

The ability of rabbits to take over an ecosystem, however, may have his most notorious example in Australia. In the mid-19th century, British settlers brought an “innocent gift” to Australia consisting of 24 rabbits. A recent study estimated that this was enough to unleash “the most devastating biological invasion” of the country.

But… weren’t the rabbits in danger? The rabbit problem draws even more attention for one fact: European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) they find each other on the list of threatened species, the “Red List” of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Rabbits went from being considered a pest a species to protect.

However farmers point to a “hybrid” variant of this species. These “hybrid” rabbits would be the result of the union of bush, wild, and domestic rabbits. This variant would be “larger, more voracious and with a greater capacity to procreate”, Fatás commented in a Press release.

Domestic rabbits are descendants of wild European rabbits, so unlike what happens in places like the United States, where domestic and wild rabbits belong to distant species, here in Europe the possibility of mixing is real. Despite this, the existence or characteristics of these hybrids have not yet been documented beyond the observations of those who have been victims of their voracity.

The peninsula is no longer what it used to be. During the last half century the Iberian Peninsula has witnessed severe changes in its ecosystem. The causes are diverse, from rural depopulation and changes in land use associated with it, to climate change.

With or without hybrid rabbits, farmers face increasingly harsh conditions. 2022 was an exceptionally dry year with significant increases in energy costs. For this reason, there is a risk of turning rabbits into the scapegoat for some structural problems that affect Spanish agriculture as a whole.

The same environmental pressures suffered by the primary sector are suffered by animals. This may imply changes in their distribution, behavior and reproductive habits. That is to say, there are other alternative explanations to explain the greater “voracity” of rabbits, such as thirst caused by drought and hunger when they are deprived of natural pastures.

In necessary and urgent analysis. Already in 2017 the experts warned, precisely based on the case of Spanish rabbits, of the need for the scientific community to attend to “rumors” associated with wildlife. This is important not only from a theoretical perspective but also with the aim of improving environmental management. The relationships between humans and animal life are complex and the stakes are high.

What this crisis reveals is the need for new external evaluations of the problems faced by Spanish crops. Considering the possibilities raised by the agricultural sector as well as other hypotheses that could explain the poor situation of the Spanish countryside.

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Cover image | Jason Leung