Chief Rabbit

In the novel "Watership Down" and the story collection "Tales from Watership Down" by Richard Adams, the chief rabbit is the top-ranking rabbit in a warren. He (occasionally she) is generally the most intelligent rabbit with leadership and decision-making skills. The chief rabbit is the one who has earned the most respect over time--like Hazel, for example--and/or is most feared for his power and physical prowess, such as General Woundwort. He makes important decisions for the entire warren. The Owsla serve the chief rabbit as advisers and enforcers.

In "Watership Down", the Sandleford Warren chief rabbit's refusal to take the prophecy of Fiver seriously leads to the destruction of the entire warren. Hazel becomes a chief rabbit in the spirit of El-ahrairah and accepts council from other rabbits as well as testing new ideas. This leads to their survival and prosperity on Watership Down. General Woundwort, on the other hand, created a military-style power structure in his warren and rules with an autocratic hand.

Chief rabbits add the suffix "-rah" (prince or lord) to their names. Thus, the chief rabbit of the Sandleford warren was called "Threarah" (or "Threar-rah"), whilst the final part of "Watership Down" is entitled "Hazel-rah", as Hazel is recognized as leader of the Watership Down warren. The title does not seem to have to be conferred ceremonially; Hazel is referred to as "Rah" by Blackberry, causing Bigwig to interrupt and declare "The day I call you Chief Rabbit, Hazel, that'll be the day, that will! I'll stop fighting that day."

The name of El-ahrairah, the mythical first rabbit, comes from the phrase "elil-hrair-rah," which means in Lapine "the prince with a thousand enemies."