European rabbit Switzerland: Severely endangered, yet still huntable

The wild rabbit is one of the most threatened mammals in Switzerland. On the Red List it is classified as “endangered” (EN). Its population is tiny: in the early 1980s the species was still well represented in Ticino, but an epidemic practically wiped out the population at the end of the 20th century. Today only isolated, scattered occurrences remain in Switzerland, the largest of them in Valais (FOEN, Red List of Mammals 2022). Nevertheless, the wild rabbit is listed as a huntable species in the Federal Hunting Act. It is the most absurd case in the Swiss hunting system: a species on the brink of disappearing that may still legally be shot.

Profile

The European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) belongs to the family of hares and rabbits (Leporidae) and is the only species of the genus Oryctolagus. It is the ancestor of all domestic rabbits. With a body length of 40 to 50 centimetres and a weight of 1.5 to 2 kilograms, it is considerably smaller and stockier than the European hare. The ears are shorter, the hind legs less long. The fur is greyish-brown on top, the nape rusty brown, and the underside and the underside of the short tail (the “scut”) are white.

Biology and Social Structure

Unlike the European hare, which lives as a solitary animal in open landscapes, the wild rabbit is a distinctly social animal. It lives in colonies and digs complex underground burrows that are extended and used over generations. Within the colony there is a fixed hierarchy. Wild rabbits are mainly active at dusk and at night, and rarely venture more than a few hundred metres from their burrow when foraging. This close attachment to the burrow sets them fundamentally apart from the hare, which is born fully developed and rests in open forms.

Wild rabbits prefer open landscapes with low vegetation, patches of scrub and loose soils suitable for digging. Woodland edges, hedgerow landscapes, dunes and embankments are ideal habitats. In intensively farmed agricultural land, they find hardly any suitable habitat any more. Climatically, the wild rabbit depends on milder altitudes; it is absent from higher mountain regions.

Reproduction

The wild rabbit has one of the highest reproduction rates among native mammals. A doe can produce 3 to 5 litters a year, each with 3 to 7 young. The young are born naked and blind (altricial), unlike leverets, which are precocial and arrive in the world already furred and with their eyes open. This high reproduction rate is an adaptation to high mortality: natural predators, disease and weather take a heavy toll. Under normal conditions, breeding compensates for the losses. But when diseases such as myxomatosis or RHD (Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease) strike, even a highly fecund population collapses within a short time.

Red List status

In Switzerland, the wild rabbit is classed as “Endangered” (EN) on the Red List of mammals (FOEN, 2022). This means there is a high risk that the species will become extinct in Switzerland in the medium term. The population is very small and fragmented. According to the Red List, the small colonies on St. Peter's Island and in the Grangettes have died out. The largest population lives in Valais, completely isolated from other populations, while a small remnant population near Basel survives only thanks to larger numbers across the national border. In 2022, SRF reported that the Swiss wild rabbit population was “very small” and that the species had practically disappeared from Ticino after an epidemic at the end of the 20th century (SRF, 2022). 20 Minuten and Infosperber confirmed in 2022 that wild rabbits in Switzerland are “particularly severely endangered” (20 Minuten, Infosperber, 2022).

The history: from Roman rabbit to victim of epidemics

Origin and spread

The wild rabbit originally comes from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. The Romans already kept it as a domestic animal. In the Middle Ages it was released across large parts of Europe and, thanks to its enormous reproductive capacity, spread rapidly. In Switzerland it has settled mainly in the climatically milder regions, in particular in Ticino, the Lake Geneva area and north-western Switzerland. It has never been considered a common species in Switzerland, as the alpine altitudes and the harsh climate of large parts of the country naturally limit its distribution.

The catastrophe: myxomatosis and RHD

The history of the wild rabbit in Europe is inseparably linked to two devastating viral diseases, both of which were caused or spread by humans.

Myxomatosis was deliberately introduced into the wild rabbit population in France in 1952, when the landowner Paul-Félix Armand-Delille released two infected rabbits on his estate in order to curb the rabbit population (Wikipedia, Myxomatosis). The virus spread at breakneck speed across the whole of Europe and was almost population-destroying. The mortality rate was as high as 99 per cent. In Switzerland, too, wild rabbit populations were massively decimated. In 2007 a fresh outbreak was reported in Switzerland (AGES, Myxomatosis).

In addition, from the 1980s onwards Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD, also known as “Chinese disease”) appeared, another viral disease with mortality rates of over 80 per cent. In Ticino, where a considerable wild rabbit population still existed at the beginning of the 1980s, the species disappeared almost completely at the end of the 20th century after a myxomatosis epidemic (FOEN, Red List of Mammals 2022). In 2018 a new virus recombinant (ha-MYXV) also emerged on the Iberian Peninsula, which for the first time killed brown hares in large numbers as well (Vetmeduni Vienna, 2025).

The wild rabbit in Switzerland is therefore not a victim of natural processes but of human manipulation: the epidemics that have brought it to the brink of extinction were spread by humans, either deliberately or through negligence.

More on this: Dossier: Hunting and Biodiversity

Hunting: by law, the killing of a dying species

Legal situation

Under the Federal Act on Hunting (JSG, Art. 5 para. 1 let. f), the wild rabbit is a huntable species. The closed season runs from 1 January to 30 September. Shooting is permitted in the months from October to December. The cantons may restrict the hunting season further or protect the wild rabbit all year round.

The contradiction is obvious: the wild rabbit is classed as 'endangered' on the Red List, that is, in the second-highest threat category after 'critically endangered'. At the same time, it is huntable under federal law. This coexistence of threat status and huntability is untenable from the standpoint of both wildlife biology and ethics. In 2022, Infosperber commented: «It is a disgrace that wild rabbits are still huntable even though they are considered highly endangered» (Infosperber, 2022).

The scale of the killing

Kill figures are low because of the tiny population, but not zero. In 1990, 403 wild rabbits were still shot in Switzerland. From 2010 to 2022, the Federal Hunting Statistics record kills in every year except 2014, all of them in the canton of Valais, where the largest remaining population lives: 9 animals in 2019 and as many as 14 in 2022. No kills have been reported for 2023 to 2025 (Federal Hunting Statistics, queried on 21.10.2026). Yet even a few kills can make the difference between survival and extinction for a remnant population on the brink of disappearing. The fact that the wild rabbit is still on the list of huntable species at all is not the expression of a deliberate wildlife policy, but of an oversight: the federal act was never adapted to the reality of the Red List.

The comparison with the brown hare

The brown hare, classed as 'vulnerable' (VU), one category below the wild rabbit, is intensively hunted by recreational hunters, with 1,343 animals killed in 2025 (Swiss Hunting Statistics 2025) and is the subject of broad public debate. The wild rabbit, which is even more threatened, is hardly mentioned in this debate because its population is so small that it has effectively ceased to appear as hunting quarry. Yet this is precisely what makes the case so serious: a species that has become so rare that it has turned 'invisible' to recreational hunters remains in the hunting act. Nobody campaigns for its removal because nobody cares. The wild rabbit is dying in invisibility.

More on this: Dossier: The European Hare in Switzerland

Ecological significance: a keystone species in hiding

The ecosystem engineer

Where it occurs in healthy populations, the wild rabbit is an ecological keystone species. Through its burrowing, it aerates the soil, creates microhabitats for insects, reptiles and amphibians, and promotes plant diversity through selective browsing. In its native Iberian Peninsula, it forms the food base for an entire chain of predators: the Iberian lynx and the Spanish imperial eagle depend on wild rabbits as their main prey. The dramatic decline of the wild rabbit due to myxomatosis and RHD has brought the Iberian lynx to the brink of extinction in Spain (German Hunting Association).

In Switzerland, the ecological significance of the wild rabbit is limited owing to the small size of its population. Yet that makes its disappearance no less alarming: every species that vanishes from an ecosystem tears a gap whose consequences often become visible only years later.

A food source for predators

In regions with intact wild rabbit populations, red foxes, eagle owls, common buzzards, stoats and other predators benefit from the high availability of prey. The disappearance of the wild rabbit increases predation pressure on other prey animals, such as the European hare, which is likewise endangered. Restoring a healthy wild rabbit population would therefore have positive cascading effects on the entire ecosystem.

What needs to change

Immediate removal of the wild rabbit from the list of huntable species: A species listed as 'critically endangered' on the Red List, whose Swiss population is on the verge of extinction, must under no circumstances remain huntable. Its removal is not a question of hunting policy but of species protection, and it must take place at federal level.
National protection programme for the wild rabbit: Switzerland needs an active protection and reintroduction programme for the wild rabbit. Suitable habitats must be identified, improved and connected. Pioneer colonies must be protected from disturbance. The Geneva model shows that in a canton without recreational hunting, the conditions for the recovery of small game species are considerably better.
Disease monitoring and prevention: Myxomatosis and RHD are the greatest threats to the wild rabbit. Systematic monitoring of the pathogens in Switzerland and the development of vaccination strategies for wild populations are urgently needed. The new virus recombinant ha-MYXV, which has also been infecting European hares since 2018, must be monitored especially closely.
Habitat enhancement: The wild rabbit needs richly structured landscapes with loose soils, thicket islands, hedgerows and extensively managed grassland. The intensification of agriculture has destroyed these habitats on a large scale. Ecological compensation areas, fallow land and hedgerow strips must be created in a targeted way in areas with a historical rabbit presence.
Research into population and distribution: There are no reliable current data on the size and distribution of the wild rabbit population in Switzerland. Without these data, no protection programme is possible. A systematic population survey using burrow counts, camera traps and genetic analyses is long overdue.
Public awareness: The wild rabbit has become so rare in Switzerland that most people are not even aware of its existence. Public relations work and education about its endangered status are a prerequisite for the societal support that protection measures need.

Talking points

“The wild rabbit may be huntable, but it is practically no longer shot.” This is not an argument for keeping it huntable but for abolishing that status. If a species has become so rare that it no longer appears among hunting bags, removing it from the hunting act is a matter of course. Keeping it huntable on paper sends a signal of indifference towards species protection.

“The main threat is disease, not recreational hunting.” That is true. But when a species has been brought to the brink of extinction by myxomatosis and RHD, every additional mortality factor must be eliminated, even if it is quantitatively small. This principle applies to the European hare, and it applies all the more to the even more endangered wild rabbit. Recreational hunting of a species that has practically disappeared from Switzerland has no reasonable justification under the Animal Welfare Act.

“The wild rabbit is not originally native to Switzerland and was introduced by humans.” The wild rabbit has lived in Switzerland since the Middle Ages and has been part of the native fauna for centuries. It is listed on the Red List of native mammals. Whether a species arrived 500 or 5,000 years ago is irrelevant to its protection status. What matters is that it is part of the existing ecosystem and that its disappearance leaves an ecological gap.

“The cantons can protect the wild rabbit anyway.” A cantonal patchwork is no solution for a species with such a small and fragmented population. The wild rabbit needs nationwide protection at federal level. Cantonal voluntary measures failed for the brown hare, and they will fail all the more for the wild rabbit, because the species is too rare to attract political attention.

“There are more important species protection problems than the wild rabbit.” There are many species protection problems. But removing a species from the hunting act costs nothing, requires no administrative effort and sends a signal: anyone serious about species protection begins by eliminating obvious contradictions. Allowing the hunting of an “endangered” species is one such contradiction.

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sources

Capt, S. (2022): Red List of Mammals (excluding bats). Threatened species of Switzerland. FOEN / info fauna, Umwelt-Vollzug No. 2202 (wild rabbit: EN) (bafu.admin.ch)
FOEN, Federal Hunting Statistics: kills, special kills and fallen game of wild rabbits 1990–2025, retrieved on 21.10.2026 (jagdstatistik.ch)
SRF (2022): Red List of threatened species is longer than ever (image/text: wild rabbit in Switzerland, very small population)
20 Minuten (2022): Red Lists: these animals are threatened with extinction in Switzerland
Infosperber (2022): Soon only made of chocolate? Fewer brown hares in Switzerland
Stadtwildtiere Schweiz (2022): New Red List of Mammals
Wikipedia: Myxomatosis, wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
AGES Austria (2024): Rabbit plague, rabbit pest, myxomatosis
Vetmeduni Vienna (2025): Myxomatosis outbreak in Austria, new virus recombinant ha-MYXV
German Hunting Association: Species profile of the wild rabbit
FSVO (Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office): Myxomatosis (blv.admin.ch)
Zwangsbejagung-ade.de: Canton of Geneva, Switzerland (wild rabbits and brown hares very rare before the hunting ban)
Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds (JSG, SR 922.0), Art. 5 para. 1 let. f
Animal Welfare Act (TSchG, SR 455)

Our Standard

The wild rabbit is the most invisible victim of Swiss hunting legislation. It is “endangered”, its population vanishingly small, its existence in Switzerland under acute threat. And yet it is listed in federal law as a huntable species. Nobody needs the wild rabbit to be shot. Nobody demands it. Nobody would miss it. Yet nobody removes it from the list. The wild rabbit is dying in the shadow of the larger hunting debates, unnoticed by the public and ignored by a political class that invokes species protection in Sunday speeches and neglects it in everyday practice. The diseases that have brought the wild rabbit to the brink of extinction were caused by humans. The habitats it would need were destroyed by humans. And the law that ought to protect it still permits it to be shot. The conclusion is clear: the wild rabbit must be removed immediately and nationwide from the list of huntable species and included in an active protection programme. It is the simplest and, at the same time, the most overdue measure in Swiss species protection. This dossier is updated continuously whenever new figures, studies or political developments require it.

More on the topic of recreational hunting: in our hunting dossier we bring together fact checks, analyses and background reports.