as farm animals Rabbits mainly used for meat production (so-called fattening rabbits), but also for fur and angora wool. More than 2,000 years ago, the Romans kept fattening rabbits in brick stalls. Today, rabbits in intensive animal husbandry usually live in wire cages. Experts estimate that around 30 million rabbits are slaughtered in Germany every year.
Anyone who has ever had rabbits as pets knows that their natural life expectancy is around six to 14 years. On average, rabbits will be about nine years old. Even wild rabbits, exposed to many dangers, can live to be nine years old.
The situation is different in intensive livestock farming. Here the animals are slaughtered for meat production long before they reach their natural lifespan – or their health is so exhausted due to breeding and husbandry conditions that they are “sorted out”. A mother rabbit just reaches an age of about 1.8 years. A fattening rabbit will even just 60 to 70 days old – so it’s not even alive 2.5 months long.