Almost everyone is aware that rabbits are good at jumping. After all, the phrase “hopping like a bunny” exists for a reason, right? But sometimes, the abilities that rabbits have for jumping can make them a bit of a nuisance.
Some people are worried about rabbits jumping over into their gardens, and completely destroying whatever plants or food they are growing there (as rabbits will eat it). Some people are worried that their pet rabbits will jump over the fence of their cage and run out into the garden or wild, where they would likely not survive.
And some people…well, some people just want to know how high a rabbit can jump, simply out of curiosity!
So…how high can rabbits jump?
As a general rule, on average, rabbits can jump over 3 feet high (which is around 1 meter). However, the world record for a rabbit jump is 3 feet and 3.2 inches! But on top of this, there are reports of rabbits jumping as high as 4 feet! So basically, they can jump pretty high for how small in size they are.
Nevertheless, 3 feet seems to be the limit for most bunny rabbits, and most rabbit-proof fences are this height.
What rabbits can jump the highest?
Not all rabbits can jump as high as one another. Not only do different individual rabbits have different capabilities (maybe depending on how good they are at jumping, or how much they eat or exercise), but also different breeds of rabbits are better or worse at jumping, amongst other things.
So the question arises, of which type of rabbit is able to jump the highest.
As a general rule, it has been proven that medium-sized breeds of rabbits seem to be the ones able to jump the highest. Small breeds have smaller legs, so they don’t have as much jumping power, and larger breeds have a lot more weight to carry, so they also can’t jump as high.
Somewhere in the middle is the perfect balance of leg power and optimal weight, which allows them to beat the records.
However, don’t let the general rule fool you. There are some tiny rabbits that have been able to jump surprisingly high, and the same goes for some of the larger ones! At the end of the day, it pretty much depends on each individual rabbit.
What is the official world record for a rabbit jump?
As funny as it may sound, there are actually worldwide competitions for jumping rabbits, in which they place fences at different heights and measure which rabbit can jump the highest.
The official world record for the rabbit high jump is 39.2 inches, which is pretty impressive. This record was set in June of 1997, in Denmark, by a black and white bunny rabbit called Mimreslunds Tosen. (The owner being Tyne Bygom). There are actually videos on youtube that you can look up to see this jump record in action!
This rabbit hopping sport is competitive, and it began in Sweden around 1980. It then spread to Denmark, where it is currently super popular, and people from all over the world take their rabbits to these competitions!
Within the sport, there are four categories of competitions: the hurdles sprint, the crooked hurdles sprint, the long jump, and the high jump.
And honestly, nothing proves a rabbit’s ability to jump more than them having their own official competitive sport. It’s kinda like a horse jumping show, but everything is much smaller, and aimed at rabbits!
How high does the average pet rabbit jump?
Talking about the official rabbit jumping competitions, and the world record for a rabbit jump is all well and good. But let’s face it, not all rabbits are at such a professional level when it comes to their jump. The average rabbit doesn’t reach record heights, so to get a more down-to-earth idea, we need to look at the average home pet rabbit.
Most rabbit owners claim that their bunnies can jump over a 2-foot fence with ease. Rabbits can also easily jump onto high beds, as well as sofas, chairs, and sometimes even tables. In fact, it’s pretty common for owners to be chilling, just watching TV or something, and for their rabbits to jump onto their laps for some attention.
So two feet is a yes, for almost any rabbit.
But what about more than that?
Well, above two feet is when most rabbits begin to struggle. There are plenty of rabbits that can clear up to 3 feet, but most will begin to struggle or will attempt the jump and fail before going off to sulk about it.
Most owners also claim that a 3 feet barrier or fence seems to always work when it comes to keeping a rabbit in or out from a specific space. Some owners disagree and claim that their rabbits can sometimes clear those fences and escape, but even then, it isn’t on a daily basis and isn’t really that common at all.
Of course, there will be rabbits that can clear up to 4 feet of height, rendering the typical rabbit fences completely useless. For example, all those professional jumping rabbits from the official competitions we talked about. We bet they are kept in extra tall cages, with extra tall fences.
But normal rabbits? A 3-foot fence should definitely be enough.
It’s also worth mentioning that sometimes, a rabbit will escape from a cage higher than that, and owners will assume the rabbit successfully made the jump when in reality, the rabbit probably just climbed out. Because yes, rabbits can also climb! (Sort of).
A lot of rabbits will make an initial jump, grab onto the fence, and then they will half climb half parkour their way out of there. Of course, this tends to happen with fences that have wires, or that have nooks and holes to grab onto. If you want to avoid this, simply use a smooth surface to keep them in. Try grabbing on to those rabbits!
