Répercussion de la myxomatose sur les populations de lapin de garenne en France

Abstract

This report gives the results of a survey on the present population level of rabbits in Prance after the recent spread of Myxomatosis. 250 «tableaux de chasse» (number of rabbits shot and destroyed during the shooting period) are recorded and analysed. In Sologne, where the rabbits have always been very abundant and, in the district of «Chartres» (département d’Eure-et-Loir) where Myxomatosis was first introduced, the population was exterminated or reduced to a very low level during the first two years after the spread of the disease ; but it increased during the following two years, reaching now from 2 to 25 per cent of the population level before Myxomatosis. In some places, especially in the habitats where the rabbits were not abundant, the population level may be notably higher. Some data from other districts in France confirm these preliminary results. At the present time it is therefore very difficult to forecast the future population level of rabbits in France.