How Long Do Bunnies Live (And Why)?

How Long Do Bunnies Live (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 12 years

There are wild and domestic animals all over the world. Animals and birds can live in the wild, and can also be raised as pets. There is a known fact that animals living in captivity and as pets tend to live longer than the ones in the wild. The food chain constitutes of large animals to small insects.

So, the larger ones kill the smaller animals to control their appetite. The lifespan of every animal depends on various factors. One thing that always constitutes the life span of every animal despite any factor is their actual average life span.

Among many mammals in the world, rabbits are small mammals with an average life span of 12 years. Rabbits are sometimes commonly called bunnies, and there are even records that some rabbits live for a long while, more than 15 years. Those are rare cases and various reasons are influencing that.

Rabbits live around 8 to 12 years in captivity and live for about 4 to 6 years in the world.

How Long Do Bunnies Live

How Long Do Bunnies Live?

HabitatTime
In Wild4 years
In Captivity8 years

One of the smallest mammals with whiskers, long ears, and fluffy tails, rabbits are from the family of Leporidae. Hares also belong to the same family as rabbits, but they also have their differences. Rabbits belong to the order of Lagomorpha and there are more than 300 breeds of domestic rabbits.

According to current surveys and researches, there are only 13 breeds of wild rabbits.

Bunnies

They belong to the kingdom of Animalia and the class of Mammalia. The most popular breed of rabbits is the European rabbit species. Male rabbits are bucks and females are called as does. The term for older rabbits has been noted as “coney”, but the young ones are referred to as rabbits and bunnies.

Every species of rabbits are found in every continent except Antarctica. They can be used as livestock, and can also be adopted as pets. Rabbits are now a part of every human’s life, in ways like food, clothing, even as a source of inspiration.

Why Do Rabbits Live That Long?

Every animal lives for a certain period. With good care and in the right environmental circumstances, they can even live for a while longer. Domestic rabbits normally live for eight to twelve years, while the ones living in the wild don’t survive that long. Various factors influence the life span.

Even the type of breed influences the life span of the rabbits. The type of food they intake, where they live, the type of care they get, mental stimulation, and much more. There are various other causes for the death of rabbits, like Gastrointestinal stasis.

Other causes even include stress, dehydration, blockage, heatstroke, injury, poisoning, cancer, heart attacks, infectious diseases, and much more.

If one adopts a rabbit as a pet, there are many things one should make note of if they want to take care of a rabbit. A rabbit’s diet includes leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables. This implies that rabbits are herbivores. One could give them treats at times.

Keeping them in a safe place with whatever they require to keep them comfortable. Rabbits have the obsessive habit of chewing anything they lay their eyes on.

Bunnies

When they don’t injure themselves in any way or get any sort of health issues, rabbits will certainly live for long. They also need regular checkups because sometimes they can have health issues. There are reasons to believe that elderly rabbits get rapid health changes in a day.

Every rabbit has a different medical condition and it all depends on where they live and what they eat every day.

Conclusion

If one has adopted rabbits as pets and they have any specific health conditions that get the attention, they should consult a veterinarian for medications. It is always necessary to pay attention to the rabbit’s health and maintain if any health issues are found.

If a rabbit is not exposed to any sort of diseases, food scarcity issues, and predators, the rabbits will live for eight to twelve years. They also need the correct housing, companionship, and get the right nutrition from the diets, they can even live longer than they are intended to.

References

  1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0047637481900634
  2. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajplegacy.1957.190.1.147

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Hi! I'm Nidhi.

Here at the EHL, it's all about delicious, easy recipes for casual entertaining. So come and join me at the beach, relax and enjoy the food.

23 Comments

  1. It is very interesting to learn about the life span of the rabbits. I have always wanted to know how long they lived.

  2. I thought that it was interesting to learn about the different rabbits and the different life spans in the wild versus in captivity.

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