This is the only New World “bunny” that is neither a cottontail nor a hare. With no visible tail and short ears and legs, the volcano rabbit resembles a pika. Boasting perhaps the most limited range of any Mexican land mammal, its range centers on rocky, mountainous areas around the volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ixtacihuatl. Moreover, it’s found only in open pine forests undergrown with a heavy ground cover of certain grasses, usually between about 9,000-10,500 feet. Now that’s a particular bunny; no wonder it’s endangered!
Eurasian Rabbits
European rabbit, domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
This species is native to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal) and northwestern Africa, but has been introduced around the world. Unlike other leporids, it often digs complex burrows, or “warrens.” A colony of 407 animals maintained a den with 2,080 entrances!
bristly rabbit or hispid “hare” (Caprolagus hispidus)
southern Himalayan foothills; endangered
Sumatra short-eared rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri)
Ryukyu rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi)
the small islands of Anami Oshima and Toku-no-Oshima in the Ryukyus south of Japan; endangered
African Rabits
bushman rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis) central South Africa
Central African rabbit (Poelagus marjorita)
Red Rabbits
(Pronolagus crassicaudatus) eastern South Africa
(Pronolagus randensis) Namibia, Rhodesia, eastern Botswana, Transvaal
(Pronolagus rupestris) Kenya to South Africa
