05/08/2021
A domestic or domesticated rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus)—more commonly known as a pet rabbit, bunny, bun, or bunny rabbit—is a subspecies of European rabbit. A male rabbit is known as a (BUCK), a female is a (DOE) and a young rabbit is a (KIT), or (KITTEN). A pet rabbit, belonging to the lagomorphs, is not a pet rodent.
Domestic rabbit A pet rabbit stretched out on the grass
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification Kingdom:AnimaliaPhylum:ChordataClass: MammaliaOrder:LagomorphaFamily :LeporidaeGenus:OryctolagusSpecies:
O. cuniculus
Subspecies:
O. c. domesticus
Trinomial name Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus
Rabbits were first used for their food and fur by the Romans, and have been kept as pets in Western nations since the 19th century. Rabbits can be housed in exercise pens, but free roaming without any boundaries in a rabbit-proofed space has become popularized on social media in recent years. Beginning in the 1980s, the idea of the domestic rabbit as a house companion, a so-called house rabbit similar to a house cat, was promoted. Rabbits can be litter box-trained and taught to come when called, but they require exercise and can damage a house that has not been "rabbit proofed" based on their innate need to chew.
Unwanted rabbits end up in animal shelters, especially after the Easter season. However, the vast majority of them go on to be adopted and become family pets in various forms. Because they have become invasive in Australia.