Rabbits, Pellets and Recovery: teacher key

Eurasian Eagle-Owls, grade 11 edition, written for 11th grade. The Eurasian eagle-owl was lost from large areas of Europe, and as of November 2026 its numbers are recovering. Studies of Spain's eagle-owls and their rabbit prey show how scientists read that story, from pellets to genes.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many eagle-owls did researchers genotype from ten Spanish subpopulations?
   • 235 (answer)
   • 253
   • 72
2. How many genetic clusters did the Bayesian analyses reveal?
   • Ten
   • Eight
   • Three (answer)
3. Which two viral outbreaks caused the rabbit crash in Spain?
   • Myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease (answer)
   • Flu and measles
   • Mange and distemper
4. What do the Spanish authors say allowed demographic recovery in recent times?
   • Less direct persecution and some conservation schemes (answer)
   • More power lines
   • Fewer rabbits
5. Why would pellets from archaeological sites interest scientists?
   • They can show what small prey lived there (answer)
   • They show the owl's age
   • They show the weather
6. As of November 2026, how does the IUCN Red List list the Eurasian eagle-owl?
   • Least Concern (answer)
   • Extinct
   • Critically Endangered

Words

• genotyped: read genes
• subpopulations: local groups
• persecution: direct harm
• raptors: birds of prey