Seasonal Abundance and Management Implications for Wild Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) on La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.

There is little information on introduced European rabbit populations in the Canary Islands, an oceanic archipelago close to the north-west coast of Africa. Seasonal changes in rabbit abundance have important consequences for the management of this species. The study involved spotlight counts of wild rabbits over 3 years to characterize patterns of seasonal abundance through time and across insular biotopes. There were more rabbits at the beginning of summer than in late autumn or early winter in all years and biotopes. Coastal biotopes had more rabbits than had other biotopes, probably because of good grass cover, a factor associated with rabbit abundance. There was no seasonal change in rabbit abundance among biotopes. Adjusting hunting seasons to seasonal variations in rabbit abundance could be used to control populations of this species.