Expert: Kathy - 4/21/2005

Question
Dear Kathy,
I have a quick question for you. I was curious as to why, when and how rabbits became domesticated? I saw one in my backyard the other day and Iw as wondering how they came to be domesticated pets. If you could help answer my questions I would greatly appreciate it. thanks!

Answer
Ashley,
The domesticated rabbit is a descendant of the European rabbit, which originated in Iberia (Spain and Portugal).  The first references to this rabbit come from the Phoenicians around 1000 B.C.
In the 3rd century B.C., the Romans invaded Spain and found the rabbits, which reminded them of the hares back home.  The Romans took them back with them and kept them in leporia--walled-in game preserves measuring several acres--where they could hunt the animals as a food source.  Since the rabbits bred so readily and produced many young, the Romans brought the animlas along for food when they invaded other countries.  
Sometime between 500 and 1000 A.D., French monks started domesticating rabbits for the purpose of securing laurices--unborn and newly born rabbits.  The monks couldn't eat meat on days of fasting, but they could eat the laurices, because the Church categorized them as fish.  In order to monitor the pregnant females, and to be able to take the kits as soon as they were born, the monks kept the rabbits in small, paved, enclosed pens.  This forced the does to give birth on the ground instead of inside burrows.  
Since the rabbits no longer had to depend on their coloring to give them protection from predators,  mutations in fur color and length started to appear.  By the 16th century, the monks were practicing selective breeding to produce desirable traits, which included not only fur color and length, but also the size of the rabbits.
It was during the 19th century that rabbits began to be kept as pets.  They had been kept in warrens (a type of open enclosure) in Britain as a source of fresh meat.  Some people thought that the rabbits wouldn't be able to withstand the harsh winters, so they kept a number of the animals in hutches for breeding purposes.  These rabbits so endeared themselves to their owners that some of them were kept as pets.