INTRODUCCTION AND OBJECTIVES.

1. Weight, length and body condition differences between two wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus, L. 1758) populations from two far western Spain areas. • Díez, Carlos*; Merchán, Tomás**; Pérez, José Antonio*; Cortázar, Gloria**; Bartolomé, Daniel*; Gómez, Paco**;Alonso, Marta Elena*;Hidalgo de Trucios, Sebastián**. • *Dpto. Producción Animal II. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad de León. (España). • **Grupo de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos y Biodiversidad. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad de Extremadura. (España). • dp2cdv@unileon.es. tmerchan@unex.es. • II WORLD LAGOMORPH CONFERENCE (VAIRAO, PORTUGAL) • INTRODUCCTION AND OBJECTIVES. • Two wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus, L. 1758) populations were studied in order to determine weight and body length differences. In the other hand, it was calculated a body condition index. These populations were respectively from the North of Valladolid County and the South of Badajoz County. • MATERIAL AND METHODS. • Eighty adult wild rabbits were captured, forty in each area, 10 males and 30 females, all of them older than nine months. Captures were made during October of the year 2003. Two methods were used to capture aliveanimals, “hunt with ferret", and manual extraction in artificial burrows. • When animals were caught, were sexed, and their weights (P) and total body lengths (L.T.) were registered. The total length settled down from the beginning of the muzzle, until the birth of the tail, with the animal on foot and following the dorsal half line. On the other hand, an index of physical condition settled down (I.C.F. = (P/L.T.3)·106) (ALVES, 1996) that determines that the relative variations to the corporal weight are relatedwith the nutritional state of the individuals. • Statistical analysis was made using SPSS v.11.0 for WINDOWS. Table 1.- Results in each area (Medium values ± standar deviation). • RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. • It was found that the animals from Valladolid presented significantly bigger weight and L.T that those from Badajoz, being this difference similar when we compared both sexes, although these were not significant between sexes in each area respectively. • These differences are common because wild rabbit as a lot of species is characterized by a gradual variation of size in function of the latitude where they live (BERGMANN, 1847). • On the other hand, when we analyze the body condition index, turn out to be significantly bigger for the animals coming from Badajoz. This result may be because meteorological conditions and habitat conditions were different in both study areas. When this study was carried out (October), animals in south of Spain are nearer to reproductive time, they have bigger food quality abundance at this moment, and then they reach a good body condition before. Photo 1.- Ferret used to catch rabbits into their burrows. Photo 2.- Material used to determine weight and total length. * Valladolid • BIBLIOGRAPHY. • ALVES, M.G. (1996). Incidência da doença hemorrágica viral do coelho-bravo, Oryctolagus cuniculus. na beira interior. Relatorio Final de Estágio.Vila Real. • ALVES, P.C. (1994). Estudo da reproduçao e do estado da condiçao física de duas populaçoes portuguesas de coelho-bravo, Oryctolagus cuniculus. Dissertaçao de mestrado em ecologia aplicada. F.C.U.P. Porto 86 p.p. • BERGMANN, C. (1847). Ubre die Verhänltnisse der Wärmeoekonomie der Thieze zu ihrer Grösse. Göttinger Studien Pt. 1 : 595-708. • CAMPS, J. (1994). Sinecología del conejo ibérico. Federcaza 101, 42-51. * Badajoz Figure 1.- Study areas.