09/20/2025
Beware The Bunpocalypse!!
How many rabbits can one rabbit make?
One breeding pair of rabbits and their offspring can create nearly 4 million rabbits in only 4 years!
Seriously. No exaggeration.
As prey animals, reproduction is their only defense against extinction so females are able to conceive at about 12 weeks old. Their pregnancy only lasts about 30 days and they can become pregnant again right after giving birth. Yes, this means that a litter can be born every month. Rabbits also have two uterine horn so they can be pregnant with two litter!
So, where does nearly 4 MILLION babies come in?
Let's go with an average of 6 babies per litter with 3 male and 3 female (litters can be as large as 14, so 6 is a conservative assumption).
Now remember mother rabbit can have 1 litter per month.
Year One: 1 mother gives birth to 3 female babies per litter for 12 months = 36 female babies at the end of year one.
Year Two: 37 mothers give birth to 3 female babies per litter for 12 more months = 1332 female babies at the end of year two.
Year Three: 1369 mothers give birth to 3 female babies per litter for another 12 months = 49,284 female babies at the end of year three.
Year Four: 50,653 mothers give birth to 3 female babies per litter for yet another 12 months = 1,872,792 total female babies at the end of year four.
Add in an equal number of male rabbits because remember we started with the assumption of 3 male and 3 female rabbits per litter bringing us to our grand total of 3,745,584 rabbit offspring from one original breeding pair over four years!
This math exercise is an illustration to demonstrate why it’s vital to spay/neuter your rabbits. They are prolific reproducers and “just one litter” is not a humane option because there are already more domestic rabbits than shelters and rescues than responsible and safe homes.
By spaying/neutering not only will you be improving your rabbit’s quality-of-life, you will be helping to end the suffering and death of companion rabbits due to overpopulation.
When you adopt from a rescue, your bun is already sterilized! It’s a pretty great deal and a great way to avoid the bunpocalypse!
Mama Lavender is being spayed this upcoming Tuesday and all these babies will be sterilized as soon as they are old enough. We NEVER support breeding here at HHRR!
- Nicole
