Rabbits are a persistent problem in many parts of Australia and require an equally persistent, multi-pronged response – that’s the message from a recent ABC News report. The ability of rabbits to breed quickly in good seasons, and the ever-changing dynamics between rabbits and biological controls, make surges in wild rabbit populations an enduring threat […]
Early summer can result in more sightings of rabbits, especially young ones born since breeding that was stimulated by spring rainfall. The RHDV1-K5 virus has been approved for release but it doesn’t kill young rabbits – it actually provides them with life-long immunity. So now is not the time for a planned K5 release. Instead, […]
First there was myxomatosis, then RHDV, but what is next? Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) are funding CSIRO to search for the next potential rabbit bio-control for Australia, according to a recent announcement from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS). The $7.7 million project aims to assess rabbit viruses from south America as potential […]
Medical doctor and scientist, Dame Jean Macnamara, is credited with making Myxomatosis the great success story of biological control and applied science that it is. It wouldn’t have happened without her perseverance, and now the ABC is sharing her story, that of others who also worked to establish Myxomatosis, and the success that followed. It […]
Proposals to advance pest control solutions, improve existing control methods, or develop ‘farm ready’ control tools are being sought by the Australian Government. $13 million is available through the Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions Competitive Grant Round, which is part of the Australian Government’s Established Pest Animal and Weed Management Pipeline. Organizations that […]
Blowflies are looking increasingly promising as an additional way to monitor the extent of calicivirus across Australia. A team led by Robyn Hall (CSIRO) have published the findings of research comparing the detection of RHDV in samples from flies with samples from dead rabbits, concluding that there was a good correlation between the two techniques; […]
Modelling virus transmission in a population is nothing new for researchers assisted be Rabbit-Free Australia in their work on wild rabbits. Similar models are also used by ecologists exploring predator/prey relationships. As the world responds to COVID-19, ecologists Charley Krebs and Judy Meyers have penned a ‘blog’ on some of the challenges of modelling complex […]
The Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS) hopes to register RHDV2 as a biological rabbit control by 2023. The form of rabbit calicivirus appeared in Australia from overseas in 2015, just ahead of the controlled release of calicivirus RHDV1-K5 in 2017. Since then, RHDV2 has been responsible for the death of nearly half the rabbits […]
Wild rabbits in Australia lie in six genetic clusters, most likely reflecting different sources of introduction. It raises the question of whether their differing genetics influences their susceptibility to infection by diseases such as RHDV. In work funded by RabbitFree Australia, Dr Amy Iannella did some investigating; discovering that of 135 resistance genes tested, only […]
Spotlight counts of rabbits from 116 sites across Australia, taken over 41 years, have enabled modellers to better understand what makes a ‘rabbit hotspot’ – places of high rabbit persistence. These areas are high priorities for well-timed eradication programs. The research team was able to use the survey data to test a new model of […]