Presentation

The Mediterranean Rabbit Group is a working group created in the eighties, supported by the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) in co-ordination with ERSA and FAO, and whose objetives are the study and characterization of Mediterranean autochthonous populations, the selection and dissemination of selected lines throughout the Mediterranean Region for productivity and adaptation to the environmental conditions of the region and the identification and solution of problems which are specific to Mediterranean rabbit production such as the variability of heat tolerance and the selection of productive animals in low-cost production systems.

The exchange of information has been one of the most important activities of this group with the organization of the Seminars Races et populations locales Méditerranéennes de lapins:

and with its subsequent publications: Other activities of this group have been:  with two editions of the course on: Given the limited available evaluation reports on local rabbit breed characterizations, production variables, crossbred performances, and environmental factors, the Mediterranean Rabbit Group has undertaken the task to develop standardized descriptors for breed/strain characterizations of rabbits in Mediterranean countries. This Web page, which has been created by A. Climent, presents the first results obtained, with 24 breeds/strains from eight Mediterranean countries. The Web page will be updated with new information on other Mediterranean breeds. Furthermore, the first results presented in this page have been published in Options Méditerranéennes, B Series, 38. The pdf files available for each breed or population come from this publication.

 

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