Genetic Resources and Optimal Utilization of Rabbits in Egypt

During the period of 1955 – 2020 the population census in Egypt increased from 23,223,124 to 103, 023, 551, according to World meters Elaboration of the latest data of United Nations. This continues elevation in population will result in increasing the livestock demand. Therefore, the short-cycle animals such as rabbit are the best solution for the increasing demand of meat consumption. In Egypt, small holders rear about 90% of the rabbit with small percent for the commercial farms. From the economical view, rabbits have superior advantages and unique physiological characterization such as; short gestation period, higher growth rate, early maturity and the does have higher productive and reproductive performance (each doe can produce eight progeny every month). In spite of these advantages, rabbits did not receive the required attention and suffering from the limited resources in Egypt. Specially that, the genetic diversity could play vital role in maximizing their productivity and adaptability to the environmental conditions. So, the Egyptian researches (at The Agriculture Research Center and Faculties of Agriculture at different Universities) success to develop new Egyptian rabbit lines (APRI, New Giza, Moshtohor, Alexandria) to support the native breeds, especially that, the commercials farms are depending on the imported breeds (New Zealand White, California, Rex and Buscat) with neglecting the local breeds. Therefore, the rabbit’s industry is needing more efforts and attention to achieve the required benefits of these animals.