TY - JOUR

T1 - Is the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) a threatened species in Spain? Sociological constraints in the conservation of species

AU - Virgós, Emilio

AU - Cabezas-Díaz, Sara

AU - Lozano Mendoza, Jorge

PY - 2007/11

Y1 - 2007/11

N2 - The Wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is an endemic species of the Iberian Peninsula and is essential for the conservation of endangered predators. Rabbits are also of high importance as a hunting species. From 1988, rabbits suffered the severe effects of rabbit hemorrhagic disease, which caused large declines in most populations. Despite this fact, the National Red Data Lists continued to classify rabbits as a "Least Concern" species. We used available hunting bag data from 1973 to 2002 to model national trends of rabbit abundance and to evaluate the conservation status according to the criteria of the National Red Data List and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Generalized Additive Models were used as the statistical framework. The rabbit population of Spain suffered a large decline of about 71% between 1973 and 1993. This decline was 49% in the period 1980-1990. Based on both Spanish and World Conservation Union criteria, rabbits should be listed as 'Vulnerable', which demands a Conservation Plan Program. We suggest that the lack of concordance between the best available evidence and the conservation status of the species is a consequence of sociological constraints in conservation decisions. Rabbit conservation could face strong opposition from important socio-economic lobby groups (hunters and farmers). As such, governments and researchers may prefer to exclude rabbits from any status category requiring conservation action, despite the evidence of decline. We call for the urgent development of a nation-wide conservation program for rabbits which includes both socioeconomic constraints and the available biological data on population trends.

AB - The Wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is an endemic species of the Iberian Peninsula and is essential for the conservation of endangered predators. Rabbits are also of high importance as a hunting species. From 1988, rabbits suffered the severe effects of rabbit hemorrhagic disease, which caused large declines in most populations. Despite this fact, the National Red Data Lists continued to classify rabbits as a "Least Concern" species. We used available hunting bag data from 1973 to 2002 to model national trends of rabbit abundance and to evaluate the conservation status according to the criteria of the National Red Data List and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Generalized Additive Models were used as the statistical framework. The rabbit population of Spain suffered a large decline of about 71% between 1973 and 1993. This decline was 49% in the period 1980-1990. Based on both Spanish and World Conservation Union criteria, rabbits should be listed as 'Vulnerable', which demands a Conservation Plan Program. We suggest that the lack of concordance between the best available evidence and the conservation status of the species is a consequence of sociological constraints in conservation decisions. Rabbit conservation could face strong opposition from important socio-economic lobby groups (hunters and farmers). As such, governments and researchers may prefer to exclude rabbits from any status category requiring conservation action, despite the evidence of decline. We call for the urgent development of a nation-wide conservation program for rabbits which includes both socioeconomic constraints and the available biological data on population trends.

KW - Decline

KW - GAM

KW - Haemorrhagic disease

KW - Hunters

KW - Population trends

KW - Rabbit

KW - Spain

KW - Threatened species

KW - abundance

KW - conservation planning

KW - conservation status

KW - disease

KW - endangered species

KW - endemic species

KW - lagomorph

KW - population decline

KW - Red List

KW - species conservation

KW - wild population

KW - Eurasia

KW - Europe

KW - Iberian Peninsula

KW - Southern Europe

KW - Oryctolagus cuniculus

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=36148973523&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/3abac532-3185-313e-90da-180e120c1ba0/

U2 - 10.1007/s10531-006-9054-5

DO - 10.1007/s10531-006-9054-5

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 16

SP - 3489

EP - 3504

JO - Biodiversity and Conservation

JF - Biodiversity and Conservation

SN - 0960-3115

IS - 12

ER -