Oryctolagus cuniculus
European Rabbit at Burra, NSW
Identify this sighting
| Oryctolagus cuniculus | MartinPredavec | 30 Jun 2025 | |
| Oryctolagus cuniculus | CarbonAI | 30 Jun 2025 | |
| Oryctolagus cuniculus | AlisonMilton | 30 Jun 2025 |
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User's notes
Dead but still warm. No visible injury.
4 comments
30 Jun 2025
Hi @AlisonMilton, rabbits that die from RHD typically do so suddenly, without a lengthy period of feeling unwell, and some don't even make it back to a burrow (like almost all other kinds of sick rabbits mostly do). So you can find carcasses that look like this. Scavengers respond very quickly, so the presence of perfect-looking carcasses like this usually only applies for the first day of an RHD episode. At this stage of decomposition they are not unpleasant to necropsy. Just slit the abdomen and look for blotches or haemorrhaging on the liver, kidneys, or maybe even the heart. If present, in an animal looking like this, RHD.
30 Jun 2025
Oh sorry, RHD is Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease, once known as Rabbit Calicivirus Disease (RCD). It was first introduced to Australia in the late 1990s, and new strains have been occasionally released subsequently.
30 Jun 2025
Ahh thanks. I'm familiar with Calicivirus. Wasn't aware of the new name. We did speculate on this being calicivirus.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.260317-35.519225
- Altitude 674.9m
- Maps Googong Foreshore
- Places Burra, NSW
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 29 Jun 2025 12:00 PM Recorded on
- AlisonMilton Recorded by
Collections
- AlisonMilton NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Oryctolagus cuniculus Rabbits & Hares Mammals
Species information
- Oryctolagus cuniculus Scientific name
- European Rabbit Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Exotic
- Major weed or pest
- Up to 1909.02m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
4 / 7
- Images or audio
- Verified by an expert moderator
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- More than one media file
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- Additional attributes