Winter condition for survival in wild

[deox84]

Can someone help me to find data about hardiness of rabbits and could they be introduced to the area I live? There are rabbits everywhere in UK and western Europe, but no population from Finland to Poland. Some articles online indicate a population of rabbits has sprouted in Helsinki (2006), which has been cut down by government with RHD2 and hunting by 2016.

My guestion is: what are the minimum temperatures below zero in C, for rabbits to live and procreate in open, grassy, urban habitat with very few predators (crows and cats). I live in "plant zone 6": -17-23C. Should be the same as Helsinki and Stockholm, where bunnies are already present.

 

[Hermelin]

They could be introduced but rabbits in Stockholm and Gothenburg both places are in Sweden are when people let out tame rabbits, they survive because of no predators but they are destroying the roads with their tunnels. Rabbits can handle -20 C without problem, as long they have a home underground or an isoladeted living area above, these homes often stay around some plus degree which make the rabbits to survive the winters.

I know this because I’ve had an outdoor rabbit and many rabbit in Sweden have outdoor rabbits, they can handle the cold.
Why the rabbits survive in the cities it’s because the only threats are the humans and cars.
So the rabbits can survive as long theirs food, water and they have shelter.

 

[ladysown]

question to you is this: WHY do you want to start a feral colony of rabbits? Do you have PERMISSION to do so?

 

[Hermelin]

It's never smart to start an rabbit colony, it can destroy the echo system of the nature around and really mess everything up. In my opinion humans shouldn't change nature if it not to save an endanger species, so it's better to keep your rabbits tame and take care of them as a family member. If you are just after outdor rabbit, they will survive with a good isolated living area and a predatorer safe cage with an encloser/pen.

 

[Aki]

I'm sure it's a purely hypothetical question for a class report or something... well, I hope.