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Story: Marlborough region

Rabbit on the menu

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Rabbit on the menu

Rabbits reached plague proportions in late-19th-century Marlborough. Trapping rabbits and processing their meat into a canned product gave rise to this colourful artwork on cans around 1900, but did little to reduce their numbers.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-F-MEAT-Gear-130

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Malcolm McKinnon, Marlborough region – Grazing and farming, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/31766/rabbit-on-the-menu (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 9 May 2011, updated 1 November 2016.