When touch is stressful: acute endocrine and behavioral responses of domestic rabbits to unfamiliar human handling

Background Rabbits are increasingly kept as companion animals, yet little is known about their stress responses during interactions with unfamiliar humans—situations commonly encountered during household visits or animal-assisted interventions. This study evaluated whether tactile interaction with an unfamiliar person induced acute stress in domestic rabbits using physiological (salivary corticosterone) and behavioral indicators (ear position, eye openness, and body posture). Methods Seven adult, intact female dwarf rabbits were each exposed five times to a 10-min stroking session while sitting on an unfamiliar person’s lap, simulating a typical human– rabbit interaction. Salivary corticosterone was measured under control conditions (no stroking) and experimental conditions (20 min post-interaction), while behavior was recorded during the stroking period. Results Tactile interaction with an unfamiliar person resulted in a significant increase in corticosterone concentrations (mean +214.4 ± 74.1%, p = 0.031). Behaviorally, rabbits spent an average of 8.4 min in a tense posture, held their ears pressed back for 4.2 min, and kept their eyes partially or fully closed for 0.7 min. Tense posture in rabbits significantly correlated ( r = 0.82; p = 0.03) with increased corticosterone levels; moreover, a tendency toward a correlation ( p = 0.088) between ears pressed back and increased corticosterone levels was observed. Conclusion These results indicate that handling by an unfamiliar person elicits acute stress responses in rabbits and should be considered when interacting with rabbits.