page_title: Placentophagy
section_title: In rabbits
hierarchical_section_title: Placentophagy / Prevalence / In rabbits
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Wildkaninchen (Oryctolagus cuniculus) English: European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Austin's Ferry, Tasmania, Australia Español: Conejo europeo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) en Austin's Ferry, Tasmania, Australia. Français: Un Lapin européen (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Photo prise à Austin's Ferry, en Tasmanie (Australie). Hrvatski: Europski kunić (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Italiano: Coniglio europeo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Nederlands: Konijn (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Polski: Królik europejski (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Português: Coelho-europeu (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Tiếng Việt: Thỏ rừng châu Âu (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Русский: Европейский кролик (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Українська: Європейський кролик (Oryctolagus cuniculus) עברית: ארנבון מצוי فارسی: خرگوش اروپایی
context_page_description: Placentophagy, also known as placentophagia, is the act of consuming part or all of the afterbirth following parturition in mammals. Parturition involves the delivery of the neonate, as well as the placenta and fetal membranes. The placenta is a critical organ that develops in the maternal uterus during pregnancy to support the fetus. It connects to the baby via the umbilical cord in order to allow nutrient transport, waste excretion and gas exchange between mother and baby. The morphological features of the placenta differ among species, but the function is universal.
  The behaviour is characteristic to the birth giver, i.e. the mother, of the majority of placental mammals. Significant documentation has been provided on placentophagy in a range of animals. Anomalies generally include humans and aquatic species, as well as camels. However, the concept is becoming more popular among women in the Western World despite its controversial overtone.
  Theories as to why mammals engage in placentophagy are related to the many proposed benefits of placental consumption. These vary between animals but tend to be behavioural, medical or spiritual in nature.
context_section_description: Placentophagia in rabbits is exclusively performed by maternal figures that have recently given birth. A study shows that even when pregnant and pre-parturient female rabbits are presented with placental meal there is little participation in the behavior but all postpartum mothers ate the afterbirth. When compared with the consumption of liver, another protein source, the occurrence of placentophagia alone increases by roughly 55% in the short 1-5 day period following parturition. The liver is preferential to non-pregnant, pregnant and pre-parturient mothers consistently as opposed to post-partum mothers who chose to consume only placenta when presented with both. The same study also looked at the interest of the placenta in pregnant rabbits, they saw that in the days leading up to delivery the animals were more intrigued by the placenta when it was presented, which was shown by increasing sniffing of the placenta. The attraction was not demonstrated towards the liver. This infers that there is a tie between elements prompting both delivery and placentophagy in pregnant maternal rabbits. In some instances placentophagia is tied to cannibalism in rabbits. As the mother engages in the act of consuming the placenta, they accidentally ingest the neonate as well.
caption: Fig. 3: Domestic rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, used as model species in study of placentophagy
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