naturestee
Well-Known Member
Dana Krempels posted this on an email list inanticipation of Easter. I'm sure the rescues are thrilledwith all the soon-to-be-dumped/pregnant rabbits.:?
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/scary.html
Why Spay or Neuter my rabbit? Some Scary Numbers... by DanaKrempels, Ph.D. If you are contemplating getting a bunny "for Easter"or for any other reason, it's imperative to spay or neuter yourcompanion for his or her health and longevity. But aside from theindividual rabbit's wellbeing, another factor to consider is just howquickly these prey animals can reproduce, if left to their own devices.More than one rescuer in the U.S. has been faced with the daunting taskof trying to find homes for a "backyard breeding" operation gone amuck.
Most of us are familiar with the estimate that one cat and heroffspring can potentially bear more than 40,000 cats in seven years.But this impressive number pales in comparison to what a rabbitcan produce! Here are those numbers, for sharing and scaring.
A single female rabbit can have 1-14 babies per litter, but let's beconservative and say that the average litter size is six. We'll alsomake the assumption (remember, this is all hypothetical) that onlyhalf of those are females, and we will calculate the potentialfecundity of our bunny population only from these hypothetical threefemales per litter, since females are the limiting factor in apopulation when it comes to making babies. We're also assuming nomortality, since we're talking about potential reproduction withno set environmental carrying capacity.
Rabbit gestation is 28-31 days, and because they are induced ovulators,mother rabbits can become pregnant again within hours of giving birthto a litter. This means that mama could, hypothetically, have onelitter per month if she is constantly with a male rabbit. (Poor mama!)
If our "starter bunny" begins reproducing at age of six months (not anunreasonable estimate), and has babies for seven years (which sheprobably won't, since she'd burn out in 2-3 years if she's having thatmany babies, but it's not impossible), then by the end of the firstyear:
One mother rabbit x 3 female babies x 12 months = 36 female babies(plus your original mama makes 37) I'll add the new babies to thereproductive population at the beginning of the following year.At that point, their average age would be six months--the time of theirfirst litter. (Not perfect, perhaps, but it works if you averagethe new females' reproductive output.) If--starting at the beginning ofYear Two --each of the Year One female rabbits produces an average of 3female offspring per month, then by the
Do the bunnies of the world a favor: have your companion rabbit spayed or neutered!
copyright January 2006 Dana Krempels
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/scary.html
Why Spay or Neuter my rabbit? Some Scary Numbers... by DanaKrempels, Ph.D. If you are contemplating getting a bunny "for Easter"or for any other reason, it's imperative to spay or neuter yourcompanion for his or her health and longevity. But aside from theindividual rabbit's wellbeing, another factor to consider is just howquickly these prey animals can reproduce, if left to their own devices.More than one rescuer in the U.S. has been faced with the daunting taskof trying to find homes for a "backyard breeding" operation gone amuck.
Most of us are familiar with the estimate that one cat and heroffspring can potentially bear more than 40,000 cats in seven years.But this impressive number pales in comparison to what a rabbitcan produce! Here are those numbers, for sharing and scaring.
A single female rabbit can have 1-14 babies per litter, but let's beconservative and say that the average litter size is six. We'll alsomake the assumption (remember, this is all hypothetical) that onlyhalf of those are females, and we will calculate the potentialfecundity of our bunny population only from these hypothetical threefemales per litter, since females are the limiting factor in apopulation when it comes to making babies. We're also assuming nomortality, since we're talking about potential reproduction withno set environmental carrying capacity.
Rabbit gestation is 28-31 days, and because they are induced ovulators,mother rabbits can become pregnant again within hours of giving birthto a litter. This means that mama could, hypothetically, have onelitter per month if she is constantly with a male rabbit. (Poor mama!)
If our "starter bunny" begins reproducing at age of six months (not anunreasonable estimate), and has babies for seven years (which sheprobably won't, since she'd burn out in 2-3 years if she's having thatmany babies, but it's not impossible), then by the end of the firstyear:
One mother rabbit x 3 female babies x 12 months = 36 female babies(plus your original mama makes 37) I'll add the new babies to thereproductive population at the beginning of the following year.At that point, their average age would be six months--the time of theirfirst litter. (Not perfect, perhaps, but it works if you averagethe new females' reproductive output.) If--starting at the beginning ofYear Two --each of the Year One female rabbits produces an average of 3female offspring per month, then by the
- End of Year Two:
- 37 mother rabbits x 3 female babies x 12 months = 1332 female babies
(plus your original 37 will equal a total of 1369 total)
- 37 mother rabbits x 3 female babies x 12 months = 1332 female babies
- End of Year Three:
- 1369 mother rabbits x 3female babies x 12 months = 49,284 female babies
(49,284 + last year's 1369 = 50,653 total)
- 1369 mother rabbits x 3female babies x 12 months = 49,284 female babies
- End of Year Four:
- 50,653 x 3 x 12 months =1,823,508 female babies
(1,823,508 + last year's 49,284 = 1,872,792 total)
- 50,653 x 3 x 12 months =1,823,508 female babies
- End of Year Five:
- 1,823,508 x 3 x 12 months= 67,420,512
(67,420,412 + last year's 1,872,792 = 69,293,304 total)
- 1,823,508 x 3 x 12 months= 67,420,512
- End of Year Six:
- 69,293,304 x 3 x 12 months= 2,494,558,944
(2,494,558,944 + last year's 69,293,304= 2,563,852,248total)
- 69,293,304 x 3 x 12 months= 2,494,558,944
- Year Seven:
- 2,563,853,248x 3 x 12 = 92,298,716,930
(92,298,716,930 + last year's 2,563,852,248 =94,862,569,180!)
- 2,563,853,248x 3 x 12 = 92,298,716,930
Do the bunnies of the world a favor: have your companion rabbit spayed or neutered!
copyright January 2006 Dana Krempels
