Wild Rabbits and Hares Worldwide

Rabbits,beginning with Cottontail

Most rabbits are cottontails, most of which have tails that are brown above and white below, resembling a cotton ball. Native to North and South America, cottontails frequent a wide variety of habitats, but all species need cover, usually low vegetation. Only the pygmy is definitely known to construct its own burrow. Rabbits may sit almost perfectly still and quiet for extremely long periods of time, even when closely approached.

The eastern cottontail has by far the greatest range. The smallest cottontail is the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), the largest the swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus). Swamp rabbit females are about the same size as males.

Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) This species is ranges from southern Manitoba & Quebec through eastern United States into northern South America (Venezuela) and has been widely introduced, including the Pacific Northwest. The eastern cottonail inhabits a tremendous variety of habitats, including tropical, temperate hardwood, and boreal (northern) forests, grasslands, swamps, deserts, fields, and farms.

•pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) This species occurs in the Columbia Plateau & Great Basin regions of the western U.S., where it is closely associated with sagebrush.

•(Sylvilagus nuttallii) This species frequents dry bushy or rocky areas from southwestern Canada south through the western U.S.

•brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) As its name implies, it inhabits areas with dense brush from western Oregon to southern Baja California.

•desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) This cottontail is found in deserts from western North Dakota to southern Baja California & central Mexico.

Southern Cottontails

(None of the rabbits below are cottontails.)

Volcano rabbit (Romerolagus diazi) This is the only New World “bunny” that is neither a cottontail nor a hare. With no visible tail and short ears and legs, the volcano rabbit resembles a pika. Boasting perhaps the most limited range of any Mexican land mammal, its range centers on rocky, mountainous areas around the volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ixtacihuatl. Moreover, it’s found only in open pine forests undergrown with a heavy ground cover of certain grasses, usually between about 9,000-10,500 feet. Now that’s a particular bunny; no wonder it’s endangered!

Eurasian Rabbits

African Rabbits

Hares (including Jackrabbits)

Hares, which include jackrabbits, have especially long ears and large hind feet. Their feet are well furred. The upper body is usually brown or grayish brown, while the under parts are lighter colored, even white. Most species have black ear tips. In some species, the upper side of the tail is also black. Slender-bodied jack rabbits make long, high leaps.

But most hares live in open country, including northern tundra (arctic hare and tundra hare) or grasslands and deserts (jackrabbits). The blue, or mountain hare inhabits either coniferous forest or tundra, and the European, or brown hare occupies either open country or forest.

One African Hare & Several Species I'm not Sure About!

•(Lepus saxatilis) mountains of southern South Africa

•(Lepus comus)

•(Lepus coreanus)

•(Lepus fagani)

•(Lepus granatensis)

•(Lepus hainanus)

•(Lepus starcki)

•(Lepus victoriae)