As of 2017, there were at least 305 breeds of the domestic rabbit in 70 countries around the world raised for in the agricultural practice of breeding and raising domestic rabbits as livestock for their value in meat, fur, wool, education, scientific research, entertainment and companionship in cuniculture. A rabbit breed is a distinct strain created through selective breeding (or occasionally natural selection) for specific characteristics, including size, fur, body type, color, feed conversion ratio, et cetera. Organizations such as the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) and the British Rabbit Council (BRC) have standards for the desired qualities of their respective recognized breeds. Each rabbit breed is considered to benefit when a reputable breeder strives to emulate the perfect example for the breed, defined by the individual breed standard by which it may be judged. The global diversity of breeds reflects the breadth of the rabbit's unique qualities. Listed below are 191 of the world's modern-day rabbit breeds.

Modern-day rabbit breeds

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Scope

The table of modern-day rabbit breeds includes those that are: Rare breeds are denoted with pink highlighting.

Terminology

Confusion sometimes arises regarding the name of a rabbit breed versus the name of a rabbit's color/pattern (or fur type). For example, Harlequin is the name of a breed whose color/pattern is known as harlequin. (This arose from the traditional Harlequin character, who, like this rabbit, always wears a motley-colored check-patterned coat and is also native to France.) The harlequin color/pattern is found now in a different breed of rabbit: the Tri-Colour Dutch, also known as the Harlequin Dutch. Such evolutions in terminology pertain also to some fur types, where (for example) the Rex breed has rex fur. There are now other rabbit breeds that also have rex fur. For example, the unusually "rexed" Astrex rabbit breed. It is sometimes difficult to ascertain which came first, the breed name or the color/pattern name (or fur-type name). What is certain is that, in such situations, the two at some point were synonymous but subsequent developments in other breeds (likely hinging on similar genetic changes) have caused the terms to diverge. The definition of a distinct breed relies on clusters of complex individual gene-sets—clusters that may include the gene-set for a body type, the gene-set for an ear type, the gene-set for a color/pattern, and/or the gene-set for a fur type. The determination of when a group of rabbits is considered to have become a new breed (as a result of overarching genetic distinction) is left, in the following table, to the authority of ARBA, the BRC, or other reputable source.

Extinct rabbit breeds

Many rabbit breeds that are now extinct contributed to the development of a modern-day breed or breeds. An example of this was the Blue Imperial which contributed to the American and Lilac. Many rabbit breeds went extinct following the collapse of the American fur industry, though some breeds mainly raised for fur were preserved. In some cases, little is known of these nearly forgotten breeds. For some, the only records are descriptions in old breed books. At least sixty rabbit breeds have gone extinct.

Explanatory footnotes

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