Rabbit populations and game management: the situation after 15 years of rabbit haemorrhagic disease in central-southern Spain

Over recent decades wild rabbit populations have undergone a sharp decline in Spain with consequent negative impact both on a game-based economy, and on the conservation of threatened species that depend on rabbits. We investigated the relationships between rabbit population change and habitat and game management in central-southern Spain. To determine recent rabbit population changes we revisited 60 localities during summer 2002 to repeat surveys previously carried out in 1993. Each survey consisted of 4-km walked transects to record indices of rabbit abundance. The percentage of vegetation cover and of different soil types were also estimated during these transects. In the same areas, the type and intensity of game management practices were obtained by interviewing hunting managers, hunters or gamekeepers. Rabbit populations were stable or increasing only in 26.6% of the studied populations, more commonly in areas with soft soils where warren building is easier for rabbits and where rabbits were an important game species and managed to increase their numbers. Although we could not establish causality, habitat management and predator removal were the main management practices related to rabbit population change. Rabbit scarcity in Spain constitutes a serious problem for conservation, so hunters, researchers and policy makers need to reach a consensus to establish a long-term program to monitor rabbit population trends and share results obtained, especially when intense manage programs are being carried out to improve rabbit abundance.