European Rabbit Essay

1100 Words3 Pages

European Rabbit
The common name of a current invasive species found in California is the European Rabbit. The scientific name is the Oryctolagus cuniculus. European rabbits are grayish brown with commixed ebony, brown and reddish hairs on its back, light brown to beige fur on its underside, a beige ring around its eyes, and long ebony-tipped ears. It ranges from 13.5 to 20 inches (34-50 cm) in length and has a diminutive bushy tail that is 1.5 to 3.75 inches(4-8 cm) long. It ranges in weight from 2.25 to 5.5 lbs (1-2.5 kg), so it's a deceptively diminutive and cuddly-looking rabbit. The European rabbit looks homogeneous to a rodent in many ways. In addition, it genuinely belongs to the order of lagomorphs, along with hares and pikas. European …show more content…

The rabbits are herbivores. They eat grass, seeds, roots, wood, stems, plants, etc. Because they were not meant to live in California, they affect the animal population because they are eating the food that were meant for the other organisms whose natural habitat is the place where the European Rabbit is adapting to. Although they are not preying on other species, they are limiting the amount of food for the other species and turns food into a competition. Biological impacts of our invasive species is that it competes against other species for the search of food. They eat the food that was not meant for them because they are invasive and the food is only enough for the species that are native to California. In addition, there are more than 156 species threatened by the European rabbits. For instance, the feral rabbit is directly affected by the European rabbit because the has a relatively same diet as the European rabbit. “Grazing by feral rabbits could cause species, populations or ecological communities that are not threatened to become threatened.” European rabbits affect the endangered plants. The Europeans eat most plants that they are left with and because the other animals ate the non endangered plants, they are left to eat the endangered ones. Other ecosystems could completely fall because of the European rabbit. The ecosystems would have more animals, which would affect the animals

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