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.
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.