In nature, rabbits have many enemies. They are hunted by coyotes, foxes, wolves, pumas, lynxes, ferrets, owls, eagles. People also get these animals. Usually rabbits are hunted with a gun, often with the help of hunting dogs. Meat of rabbits is tender, tasty and easily assimilated. The European rabbit as a popular game was brought to many corners of the world, but such ill-considered acclimatization led to an ecological catastrophe.
The fact is that in a natural environment rabbits live under constant pressure from predators. Introduced to new lands, rabbits did not meet their natural enemies there and multiplied in incredible quantities. So popular game became a competitor to livestock.
On many islands, rabbits not only destroyed native vegetation, but also replaced local species of small animals. Apotheosis was the thoughtless acclimatization of rabbits in Australia in the late nineteenth century.
There for a couple of decades, rabbits spread throughout the continent, displaced many species of local fauna (including such large animals as kangaroos), began to impede the natural renewal of forests. The invasion of rabbits in the literal sense of the word devastated the country. To fight their resettlement, a gigantic hedge was built, crossing almost the entire continent. But the rabbits were able to penetrate and through it.
