Commonly known as the vleihaas, boshaas, doekvoetjie or pondhaas, the riverine rabbit is found only in the riverine scrub of the central Karoo. The first two names arose from its occurrence in the relatively moist and dense habitat along the seasonal rivers of the area. "Doekvoetjie" refers to the broad hind paws which are furred underfoot. During the 1940s the curator of the Kaffrarian Museum offered a pound for each riverine rabbit brought to him, hence the name "pondhaas".

IDENTIFICATION

The attractive riverine rabbit is easily identified by the black stripe running from the corner of its mouth over its cheek, a brown woolly tail, creamy fur on its belly and throat, and a broad, club-like hind foot. In the field hares can be distinguished from rabbits by their black and white tails. The tails of rabbits are usually uniformly coloured. Male riverine rabbits weigh approximately 1,5 kg and females 1,8 kg.

HABITS AND FEEDING

Riverine rabbits feed on their favourite foods, the boegoe bush and ink bush at night, and rest up in forms during the day. A form is a shallow scrape made in the soil under a bush. Two types of droppings are produced. At night, when the rabbit is active, hard pellets are deposited. During the day droppings are soft, taken directly from the anus, and swallowed. In this way the riverine rabbit obtains vitamin B, produced by bacteria in the hind gut, and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus are recycled.

WHY ENDANGERED?

The riverine rabbit is an endangered species, i.e. it is in danger of extinction and its survival is unlikely if the factors causing the decline remain in effect. The most devastating threat to the riverine rabbit is the loss of its habitat. This habitat is limited to the alluvial floodplains of seasonal rivers in the central Karoo. These flood plains, only 100 - 200 m wide, are formed when the rivers overflow during floods, and deposit silt on their banks. This soil is very good for cultivation compared with other soils found in the dry Karoo. Over the past 50 years over two-thirds of the riverine rabbit's habitat has been ploughed over for this purpose. Other threats to the riverine rabbit's survival include overgrazing and hunting. Overgrazing of riverine habitat opens up cover that the rabbit needs for shelter and to escape predation.

The only way to secure the long term survival of a species is to protect its natural habitat. Some Karoo farmers have declared their farms Natural Heritage Sites to protect the riverine habitat and rabbit. The Dept. of Environment and Cultural Affairs (previously Cape Nature Conservation) encourages farmers to form conservancies for the same purpose (a conservancy is a number of adjacent farms on which landowners cooperate with each other to conserve nature).

Leaving the riverine habitat intact has advantages for both the farmers and the riverine rabbit. The Karoo experiences frequent droughts. Enough rain for cultivation falls during only a few years every decade. It would be more productive in the long-term to use the riverine habitat for grazing rather than to reap the short-lived benefit of ploughing it for cultivation.

Riverine vegetation also binds the soil, preventing it from being washed away in floods and promotes filtration of rainwater to groundwater - another benefit for the farmer who uses windmills to draw up water for his livestock.

A captive breeding colony is run at the De Wildt Cheetah Research Station, outside Pretoria. Plans are afoot to reintroduce rabbits bred in this colony to suitable habitat where they no longer occur.

DID YOU KNOW?

* The riverine rabbit is found only in the central Karoo and nowhere else in the entire world! This means that the rabbit is endemic to this area.

* South Africa has two hare species, the Cape hare and the scrub hare, and four rabbit species. These are the Natal rabbit, Smith's rabbit, Jameson's red rock rabbit, and the riverine rabbit.

* South African rabbits and hares produce 1 - 3 young per litter. The further away from the equator rabbit and hare species occur, the larger their litter sizes. For example, Alaskan snowshoe hares have seven young per litter.

* A male rabbit is called a buck and a female a doe.

FURTHER READING

MAMMALS OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN SUBREGION. J.D. Skinner & R.H.N. Smithers. University of Pretoria. 1990.

HARES AND RABBITS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA - A POSTER. Wildlife Society of Southern Africa, address below.

THE ENDANGERED RIVERINE RABBIT - A RESEARCH UPDATE. A. Duthie. African Wildlife, Vol. 41, No. 4, 1987.

VELORE HABITATTE - VELORE DIERE. A. Duthie. Toktokkie, Vol. 9, No.6, 1987.

LAND MAMMALS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA: A FIELD GUIDE. R.H.N. Smithers. Southern Books, Johannesburg, 1986.

All books available from Russel Friedman Books, PO Box 73, Halfway House, 1685. Tel. 011-7022300/1.

USEFUL ADDRESSES

Wildlife Society of Southern Africa. Head Office, P O Box 44344, Linden, 2104. Tel. 011-486 3294/5 or 0938. Branches nation wide.

Dept. Environment and Cultural Affairs (previously Cape Nature Conservation). P/Bag X9086, Cape Town, 8000. Tel. 021-483 4227. For more information about conservancies.

Mammal Research Institute. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002. Tel. 012-4202066.

Natal Parks Board. P O Box 662, Pietermaritzburg, 3200. Tel. 0331-471961. For more information about conservancies.

Dept. of Environment Affairs and Tourism. P/Bag X447, Pretoria, 0001. Tel. 012-310 3425. For more information on Natural Heritage Sites.