Why is a rabbit a rabbit and not a hare?

Answer 1

First answer: There are two different types of rabbit. The hare is a wild rabbit and has longer legs and ears. This is how it is different to rabbits that we have!

Disagreement: The above answer is incorrect. Hares and rabbits are differently animals. Although, hares do usually have longer legs and ears than rabbits.

Rabbits exist in the wild and as domestic animals (pets, farm animals, and lab animals). There are many different species of wild rabbit and they live all over the world. Domestic rabbits were all bred from one species: the European Rabbit, which still lives in the wild in some parts of the world.

On the other hand, hares are wild only. There are no domesticated hares (except in some individual cases, where someone rescued a wild hare that was in distress and raised it at home).

Another difference between hares and rabbits is that hares are born with fur and they can see, whereas rabbits are born blind and naked. Another difference is that rabbits dig burrows underground to live in, whereas hares live above ground (they dig shallow ditches but not underground).

The words "hare" and "rabbit" are often used interchangeably, so it can be confusing. For instance, jackrabbits (a wild species) are actually hares. And the Belgian Hare (a domestic breed) is actually a rabbit.