Wild rabbits are popular game animals, especially in Europe. Varieties of it are raised commercially for meat, skins, and wool, as well as for pet trade. It is used extensively (about .5 million/year) in medical research and for testing the safety of chemicals and consumer products.

The wild, domesticated rabbit has been highly successful in most places where it has been introduced, and it is considered an agricultural pest in many areas (especially where its natural predators have been eliminated). They eat cultivated crops and compete with domestic animals for forage. Millions of dollars are spent annually in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and the United States in efforts to control, confine or exterminate them.

A number of extinctions have been reported, with many other species in steep decline, though introduced predators have undoubtedly also played a role.
On the other hand, rabbits may provide some benefits to some native species. Their burrowing loosens soil, which is helpful to certain plant and animal species, and abandoned burrows provide ready-made shelters for snakes, turtles, and other species. In addition, they are prey for a wide variety of carnivores, including canines, felines, and birds of prey.

In the 1950s, myxomatosis, a virus, began wiping out the rabbit population. When European rabbits were first exposed to the virus, the effect was devastating; in some areas the rabbit population was virtually wiped out. The rabbits that survived gradually became more resistant, but this immunity weakens over time in the absence of the virus.

Macdonald, David, Ed. 1984. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Facts on File Publications, New York, NY.