1. Few people know that the name "Spain" comes from the Latin "Hispania", a denomination originated in the Phoenician language spoken in Carthage and meaning "the Land of the Rabbits". Indeed, rabbits originated in the Iberian Peninsula (nowadays Spain and Portugal), Balearic Islands and northwestern Africa (Moroccos and northern Algeria). When they reached 3,500 years ago the Iberian peninsula, the Phoenician (coming from the modern Lebanon) were impressed by the huge number of rabbits.
2. It seems that rabbits were first domesticated in southern Spain 2,500 years ago, and the oldest rabbit representation was found on a clay pot from Alicante (southeastern Spain). The rabbit is represented grazing peacefully at the feet of a horse.
3. The Romans were great consumers of rabbit meat and they spread the animal in the entire Mediterranean area. They were great specialists in rabbit cooking.
4. The Bible sees the rabbit as one of the impure animals, forbidden to human consumption. Muslims too are forbidden to eat rabbit, that's why they are not hunted in the Islamic countries.
5. In the medieval witchcraft, rabbit legs played a crucial role. Even the love elixirs were mixed with rabbit legs, believed to have the miraculous
power of cancelling the influence of any evil, magic circles and so on. In other times, students erased their tablets with rabbit legs or tails, from the same belief in their magic powers.
6. The longest ears for a domestic breed of rabbits have 45 cm (1.5 ft)! The largest rabbit breed is the German Gray Giant: over 23 lb (more than 10 kg). The smallest (and perhaps the cutest) is the Dutch Dwarf: 1-3 lb (0.5-1.4 kg).
7. In many languages, there is an expression "breed like rabbits". A female delivers 30 offspring annually. Till the end of the year, its "daughters" may have produced 1-2 litters so that just one female can deliver 60 new individuals yearly.
8. The offspring of 5 rabbits in one year can deliver as much meat as a cattle. Rabbits can be eaten when they are 1.5-2 months old. But 10 rabbits eat as much as a sheep, and a sheep delivers three times more meat! The country with the highest consume of rabbit meat per capita is France (7 kg (18 pounds) annually).
9. Rabbit's tail is a sexual character, and during sexual display, the male makes all the possible to present it to the female.
10. In 1859, the first rabbits were colonized in Australia. Soon after, when one man shot a rabbit, he received a scorching penalty. In less than thirty years, the whole Australia was invaded by rabbits. They provoked an environmental disaster, competing with local marsupial fauna for food and resources; besides, great damages were induced to sheep husbandry. In 1953, there were about 500 million rabbits in Australia. Later, a virus provoking myxomatosis has been introduced (other methods did not work) and their population dropped to 20 %, but they are still a problem in Australia.
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