Isn't this common? I have had rodents eat wires in my car 3 times in the last 5 year. (It's not a Jag or LR). My friends have complained about this happening with their vehicles too. Or has there been any new development of some kind of "rodent-resistant" wiring?
Honda makes an anti-rodent tape that's designed for wrapping wiring. It's loaded with capsaicin so any critter that bites down will quickly decide to stop. It's possible other manufacturers are exploring similar ideas.
It may be common, but in my ~20 years of pushing wrenches, I've only ever seen that issues on Jaguars and Land Rovers. Unless we're talking about long abandoned cars that have sat outside for years.