The translocation of rabbits in a sand dune habitat: survival, dispersal and predation in relation to food quality and the use of burrows

A decrease in a local rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population can be offset by translocation and restocking the area with rabbits from other areas. However, such translocation programmes tend to suffer from a low survival rate - possibly due to stress and lack of cover. As part of a project, that sought to evaluate the potential of translocating rabbits in Dutch coastal dune areas, we were able to compare the movements of resident rabbits with those of translocated rabbits. This was the first such experiment in the Netherlands. Mortality during the translocation process was minimised by reducing stress during the trapping, handling and transportation. However, following the rabbits’ release there was a high mortality from fox predation in the first week. We tested for other factors that could influence the outcome of the experiment such as the quality of food in the new habitat and immunity to RHD. Most of the translocated rabbits left the artificial burrows for unused natural burrows during the first night. They continued to use several burrows throughout the study. We conclude that this should not be interpreted as a lack of settling, but as a behaviour which is adapted to sandy dunes: rabbits will naturally use more than one burrow where sufficient burrows are available.

Use of Animal Species Data in Environmental Impact Assessments

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should ideally help minimize adverse effects on biological diversity by considering impacts of projects on wide ranges of species. This paper investigates how recent Dutch EIAs included the species comprising animal diversity. We present results of two studies on fauna data used in the EIAs. Objectives were to determine for different taxa (a) the relative representation of species in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs); (b) the extent to which EISs referred to specific species and the accuracy of survey data referred to; and (c) apparent roles of different EIA actors in species inclusion. EIAs were found to use data on various taxa but on limited numbers of species. The frequency with which taxa were included varied significantly. Birds were most frequently included, followed by mammals, amphibians, and other species groups. The quality of data on birds exceeded that regarding other vertebrates. Our results indicate that (a) EIA working groups of independent experts were the most influential in determining the data to be used; (b) on average, proponents included data more often than required by guidelines; and (c) in 30 to 40% of the EIAs, the participation of nongovernmental organizations prompted use of data. Despite the key role of experts in data inclusion, the taxon rankings found in the EIAs showed little deviation from those observed in studies on people's preferences for species. Given the limited ranges of species considered, it is doubtful that the EIAs examined effectively contributed to conserving animal species diversity.