Rabbits are strict herbivores whose existence centers on consuming plant matter. The notion of a rabbit consuming another rabbit is highly unusual and does not represent typical behavior. While they are not predators or cannibals, extremely rare instances of consumption can occur. These exceptions are almost always linked to specific, high-stress environmental conditions or instinctual maternal behaviors, rather than a dietary preference.
The Rabbit Diet: Obligate Herbivores
The rabbit’s specialized digestive system is fundamentally adapted for processing high-fiber vegetation. As obligate herbivores, their entire physiology, from their continuously growing teeth (hypsodont) to their specialized gut, relies on plant material like grasses and hay. This design makes the digestion of animal protein and fat inefficient and potentially harmful.
Digestion relies heavily on the large cecum, where microbial fermentation breaks down indigestible fibrous plant material. This process, known as hindgut fermentation, extracts nutrients. The rabbit redigests these nutrients by consuming specialized soft fecal pellets called cecotrophs directly from the anus. This cycle demands a constant intake of roughage to maintain gut motility and a healthy microbial balance.
A diet lacking sufficient roughage can lead to gastrointestinal stasis, a severe and potentially fatal condition where gut movement slows or stops. Because their digestive process is specialized for breaking down cellulose, the rabbit’s body is unsuited to gain nutritional benefit from consuming meat. Any deviation from their plant-based diet represents a severe biological anomaly or a response to extreme pressure.
Infanticide: Why Mothers Consume Their Young
The most documented instances of rabbits consuming other rabbits involve a mother (doe) killing and sometimes eating her own kits shortly after birth. This behavior is typically an instinctual response to severe environmental stress or disturbance during the postpartum period. The presence of a predator, excessive human handling, or a loud noise can trigger a panicked response, leading to the culling of the litter.
Infanticide also serves as a mechanism for nutrient recoupment, especially for first-time mothers or those in poor physical condition. Gestation and lactation require significant energy and protein reserves. Consuming a deceased or compromised kit allows the doe to recover those resources, helping ensure she has sufficient reserves to raise the remaining healthy litter members.
Does can identify and reject weak, stillborn, or severely deformed offspring. Removing these kits prevents the spread of disease and minimizes the expenditure of valuable milk resources on non-viable individuals. The mother often consumes the evidence to reduce scents that might attract predators to the nest location.
Physical problems like severe mastitis (mammary gland infection) can contribute to this behavior by making nursing too painful or impossible. If the doe cannot nurse, she may reject the entire litter to end the painful stimulus and protect her own health. This complex behavior is viewed by researchers as an instinctual survival mechanism rooted in protecting the mother and the viability of the lineage.
Aggression and Rare Instances of Necrophagy
While rabbits rarely consume one another, aggressive territorial disputes are common, especially among unneutered males (bucks) or females (does) defending their spaces. These fights can be violent, resulting in deep bites, lacerations, and occasionally, death from trauma or infection. The death of a rival is the result of fighting, not an act of predation or intended consumption by the victor.
The extremely rare instances of adult rabbits consuming non-related dead tissue are classified as necrophagy (scavenging of carrion). This behavior is distinct from predation and is almost exclusively observed in unnatural, captive, or severely overcrowded settings. The motivation is typically a severe nutritional imbalance, specifically a lack of protein or certain minerals.
In commercial or laboratory environments, extreme dietary deficiencies or severe psychological stress can distort normal feeding behavior. A rabbit may attempt to consume a dead animal, or parts of it, to satisfy a severe protein or salt craving. This behavior is considered an abnormal pathology resulting from human-imposed confinement and improper husbandry, rather than a natural dietary choice.