Fat reserves of the wild rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.)

Abstract

Two methods for obtaining an index of fat reserves in the wild rabbit were tested on animals collected over a period of 14 months from six locations in semiarid western New South Wales. Marrow fat appeared to have little value except when populations approach starvation, but because few of the study populations approached this point it was not fully evaluated. Abdominal fat index, an estimator based on the weight of the fat depot which lies on the right dorsal side of the abdominal cavity extending from the diaphragm to the pelvic girdle, was found to be more useful for indicating population fat reserves than the marrow fat index. Mean values for each location could be calculated to provide a measure of relative environmental favourability. The index also reflected a population's rate of increase.