Rabbits and hares are the most widely spread herbivores in the Kosciuszko National Park, and are associated with less dense foliage, more bare ground and higher weed cover, according to a recent study published in Conservation Science and Practice. Rabbits were detected in 85% of study sites and over a wider range of elevations than […]
Feral cats are more dependent on rabbits as prey than quolls are, and cats favour areas where rabbits are more common. Reducing rabbit numbers is a good bet if wanting to reduce feral cat numbers.
Rabbits change entire ecosystems from the bottom up, and a couple of recent articles provide great examples of this, demonstrating how interconnected our environment is. It all starts with rabbits eating native vegetation; often very selectively taking out seedlings of the tastiest species. They are so good at this that they can completely prevent the […]
Blackberries provide great shelter for rabbits, so it makes good sense to clean them up together – and that’s what the Weeds & Rabbits Project has been promoting in Victoria. The project applied systems thinking to understand how people make decisions about pest and weed control, and to map the various groups and agencies involved. […]
Rabbits leave Mornington Peninsula resident ‘hopping mad’ after invading residential properties.
Landholders are being encouraged to work with their neighbours to coordinate rabbit control programs on Eyre Peninsula. The local Landscape Board has issued a reminder that rabbits are a significant problem and that coordinated programs, timed to take advantage of seasonal conditions and the effectiveness of different control mechanisms, are the best solution. For more […]
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 […]
Long term monitoring on Macquarie Island has shown that when rabbit populations were high the probability of albatross breeding dropped by one to two thirds. The studies also revealed a web of interactions between cats, rabbits, vegetation and albatrosses. Data collected between 1995 and 2014 showed that rabbit numbers increased when feral cats were removed […]
Rabbits are as relevant to modern problems like climate change and bushfire recovery, as they are to traditional challenges of vegetation loss, erosion and ecological disruption. In areas recovering from drought or bushfire, now is the time to act. According to a PestSmart article, examination of the damage caused by wild rabbits and other feral […]
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 […]