What is the factor(s) that will cause a buck rabbit to disfigure his children?

Question

I recently became aware of an issue that was discovered when several rabbits were rescued from a hoarding situation. I don't have all the details and many of them would be unpleasant to include here, but the relative facts are;

Mouse over the below to read relevant details, not for the squeamish.

When faced with an over population of unaltered rabbits, male baby rabbits were housed in the same cage as their father. In more than one case the father mutilated the kits, in once case nibbling off most of the front toes of one, in another case a father removed a rear foot from his son.

I know from experience that neutered male rabbits tend to be more accepting of sharing space than female rabbits. So I was somewhat surprised to learn of this occurring. I am looking for reliable references documenting the occurrence and contributing factors. First hand experience that can shed light on the issue, may also prove to be helpful.

Note: Rabbit cannibalism is observed occasionally in female rabbits, generally attributed to environmental conditions, occurring with very young kits (live or stillborn) where the mother can reasonably be assumed to believe that existing or future young will be benefitted by action. Ref1, Ref2

Answer 1

So, I worked in a pet store where someone dropped off a male and female rabbit. The female was pregnant, unbenounced to us, and had babies the first night we had her. When we came to open the store in the morning all babies were dead and the male was nibbling on one of them.

Please read the link provided. The info in the article says one thing but comments left by those who have experiences say another.

Male rabbits can be very territorial whether they are fixed or not, although neutering lessens aggression, and if in small enough containment, where the mom and babies territory mixes with the male's territory, he can take new additions as a threat. When housing multiple bunnies in one cage you want there to be enough space that each bunny can claim it's side, or area, this includes being big enough that they can each have their own space to sleep, their own food and their own space to "eliminate".

Link Below:

http://www.raising-rabbits.com/do-male-rabbits-kill-the-babies.html

If the hoarding situation resulted in some bunnies being underfed, this may have attributed to food aggression or desperate hunger. This could've changed their mental state and eating habits forever. I hated hearing stories like this.