Читать книгу Rabbit Production - James I McNitt - Страница 18

Rabbits are raised to some extent in virtually every country. It is in temperate areas that rabbit raising has been most significant in terms of commercial development, probably reflecting the Mediterranean origin of the animal. Presently, the rabbit is becoming increasingly important in tropical areas, particularly in higher regions (up-lands), where the climate is more moderate. According to figures compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), China is by far the largest producer followed by Italy, and the South Korea (Table 2.1). It has only been in recent years that rabbit production has become popular in Asia. The figures were provided by the countries themselves. Accurate data on the numbers of rabbits produced are difficult to obtain, because in most countries such records are not kept and because many rabbits are slaughtered for home consumption and thus would not be officially recorded. In general, rabbit production and consumption are similar. Following is a brief description of rabbit production in some major areas of the world.

Table 2.1. Estimates of rabbit meat production in 2010 by leading rabbit-producing countries.

Country	Estimated production (thousands of metric tons of carcass)
China	669
Italy	255
South Korea	133
Egypt	70
Spain	66
France	52
Czech Republic	38
Germany	38
Russian Federation	14
Ukraine	14
Argentina	7
Hungary	5
Mexico	4
Kenya	3
North Korea	3
Poland	3
Brazil	2
Malta	2
Belarus	1
All other countries	294
Total world production	1693

FAOSTAT, 2010. FAO Statistics Division. Available at:

http://faostat.fao.org/site/569/DesktopDefault.

aspx?PageID=569.