Reproduction of the Rabbit, Oryctolagus cunniculus (L.), on Macquarie Island, Subantarctic

Abstract

The reproduction of rabbits on Macquarie I. was studied from December 1973 to February 1975. The breeding season extended from late August 1974 to mid-March 1975; both sexes showed an annual cycle in development and regression of the gonads. Between mid-October and mid-November 92% of females sampled were pregnant; during this period the maximum numbers of corpora lutea and embryos were 8.55 and 6.50 per female respectively. Few resorptions occurred although the number of pregnant females that resorbed increased as the breeding season progressed. Of all rabbit kittens produced in the 1974-75 breeding season, 64% were born by mid-December 1974. Female rabbits in their first year of breeding bore the greatest number of kittens; natality decreased as females aged.