| Summary: | The diet of two European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations living on the subantarctic Kerguelen archipelago was studied from February 1984 to February 1985 , in two different habitats. The condition of the animais (carcass weight and kidney fat index) and their reproductive parameters (rate of pregnancy, litter size, rate of embryonic resorption) were recorded . At the first site, Pointe du Morne, the rabbit's stapple food during the whole year was a grass Poa annua. At the second site, Molloy, their diet was mostly made up of two dicots Acaena adscendens and Taraxacum sp. , the rabbits having to fall back on Acaena stems of low nutritional value in winter. Consequently, the winter carcass weight losses averaged 12 % at Pointe Morne and 24 % at Molloy, and the production per female per year was of 15 and ll offsprings respectively . The plane of nutrition therefore appears as the most important factor regulating rabbit population size in this subantarctic habitat
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