Rabbits differ from hares in bearing naked, helpless young and in occupying burrows.
It is bred for meat and for its fur, which is usually treated to resemble more expensive furs. Each female can produce several large litters in a year. Introduced into England in the 11th century, rabbits were originally delicate animals but they subsequently flourished until the virus disease myxomatosis was introduced in 1953 as a means of controlling the population by biological control. In October 1995 a deadly virus, being tested under high-security conditions on Wardang Island off the coast of southern Australia as a means of biological control, was found to have escaped to the mainland. It was deliberately released throughout Australia in September 1996, and bulldozers were then used to destroy warrens.