rabbit haemorrhagic disease, released in 1995.Įach lead to unprecedented reductions in the number of rabbits across Australia.ĭespite the minor interest in conservation at the time, the spread of myxomatosis led to widespread regeneration in sheoaks for over five years, before rabbit numbers built back up.European rabbit fleas (as a vector of myxomatosis), released in 1968.myxomatosis (an infectious rabbit disease), released in 1950.Our research reviewed the effects of rolling out three different biocontrols last century: But, research has also shown fewer rabbits ultimately lead to declines in cat and fox numbers, as the cats and foxes are starved of their major food source.Īn effective way to deal with rabbits is to release biocontrol agents-natural enemies of rabbits, such as viruses or parasites. But this argument is unfounded.Ĭats and foxes may turn from rabbits to native species in the immediate short-term. A common argument against rabbit control is that cats and foxes will turn to eating native species in the absence of rabbits. While predator management is important, neglecting rabbit control may mean Australia's unique fauna is still destined to decline.Ĭats and foxes eat a lot of rabbits in arid Australia and can limit their populations when rabbit numbers are low. When restoring ecosystems, particularly in arid Australia, it's common for land managers to heavily focus on managing predators such as cats and foxes, while ignoring rabbits. If you control prey, you control predators Rabbits also spread weeds, cause soil erosion and reduce the ability of soil to absorb moisture and support vegetation growth. For example, it took the complete eradication of rabbits from the semi-arid TGB Osborn reserve in South Australia, before most tree and shrub species could regenerate. Rabbits eat a high proportion of regenerating vegetation even when their population is at nearly undetectable levels. This means rabbits can have a severe toll on wildlife by swiftly eating young trees and shrubs soon after they emerge from the ground. Arid vegetation is slow growing and doesn't regenerate often as rainfall is infrequent. Things are particularly dire in arid Australia where, in drought years, rabbits can eat a high proportion of the vegetation that grows, leaving little food for native animals. These prolonged impacts may undermine the long-term success of conservation programs to reintroduce mammals to the wild. In some ecosystems, rabbits have prevented the regeneration of plant communities for 130 years, resulting in shrub populations of only old, scattered individuals. This has immense flow-on effects for the availability of food for plant-eating animals, for insect abundance, shelter and predation. This keeps ecosystems from ever reaching their natural, pre-rabbit forms. Rabbits can prevent the long-term regeneration of trees and shrubs by continually eating young seedlings. Simply put, rabbits are a major problem for Australian ecosystems because they destroy huge numbers of critical regenerating seedlings over more than half the continent. Our latest research looked at the conservation benefits following the introduction of three separate biocontrols used to manage rabbits in Australia over the 20th Century-all three were stunningly successful and resulted in enormous benefits to conservation.īut today, rabbits are commonly ignored or underestimated, and aren't given appropriate attention in conservation compared to introduced predators like cats and foxes. Rabbits are also responsible for the historic declines of the iconic southern hairy-nosed wombat and red kangaroo. For example, research shows even just one rabbit in two hectares of land can solely destroy every regenerating sheoak seedling.
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