Bunolagus monticularis
The Riverine Rabbit is one of Southern Africa’s most endangered mammals. In fact, the latest edition of South Africa’s Red Data book lists the species as critically endangered. Not surprising, when it is estimated that there are less than 250 adult rabbits left in the wild!

In the Nama Karoo in the Northern and Western Cape is the rabbit’s natural habitat found. As the only digging rabbit in Africa, it thrives in the river floodplains of the Karoo – areas with discontinuous and dense vegetation on soft and nutrient-rich alluvial soils associated with seasonal rivers. Only these riverine areas offer the requirements on which the rabbit is so dependent.

Females dig stable burrows in the soft and deep soils in which they raise one offspring per breeding season. The breeding period occurs between August and May. Dense vegetation of the habitat also offers protection from heat and predators. A third requirement is diverse vegetation for forage - 90% of the rabbit’s diet consists of Karoo shrubs and the remaining 10% of grasses.

The Riverine Rabbit is a solitary, nocturnal animal and rests during the heat of the day in shallow depressions scraped out under shrubs. The most serious threat to its survival is the loss of its unique habitat type - largely as a consequence of agricultural development and habitat modification which leads to advanced erosion and the slow degradation of the riparian habitat. The decline in Riverine Rabbits is directly associated with the loss of two-thirds of its habitat and the species is therefore an ideal indicator of the status of the semi-arid central Karoo region. Direct threats to the rabbit are hunting with dogs and the misuse of gin traps.