Rabbits in Africa

Abstract

A STATEMENT on the distribution of the common rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus L., in “The Rabbit”, by H. V. Thompson and A. N. Worden¹ (see p. 59 of this issue), calls for comment and correction. On pp. 4–5 it is reported that the rabbit is able “even to live successfully in Central Africa within two degrees of the Equator”. On p. 16 this is amplified by a reference to the late Prof. Hale Carpenter's claim² to have found a well-established colony of European rabbits at Masindi, Uganda. On p. 17 the distribution map shows Masindi as the only locality in tropical Africa for the common rabbit. Although the origin of the colony was said to be unknown, and the local natives gave the animals the same name as the indigenous hare of the genus Lepus, Hale Carpenter suggested that these animals were descendants of European rabbits said to have been imported and released in 1881 by Emin Pasha, then governor of Equatoria Province, Sudan. It seems that the identification of the animals as European rabbits was not based upon critical examination of specimens. I am not aware of any other report of European rabbits in tropical Africa, and the following facts indicate that Hale Carpenter's record should be removed from the literature on the common rabbit.