It has been over 200 years since the first rabbits came to Australia aboard one of the ships of the First Fleet (the first ships to take convicts, settlers and supplies to Australia). 

But they were only released into the wild in 1859 by Thomas Austin a farmer who said;

"The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting." Boy, was he wrong!

 Their population is now estimated to have risen well over 3.5 million. This means that they must be breeding like…well, rabbits! The destruction they caused was huge, so a 'rabbit-proof' fence was built in 1901. This fence runs from north to south across Western Australia.

Although these rabbits were extremely destructive and every farmers enemy, they had their uses. In the great depression, rabbits were used as a food, and their skins were used as the felt for the Akubra hat. After the Second World War, the CSIRO tried to spread a virus (the myxoma virus) to control the vast rabbit population.

The Rabbit-proof fence of Australia

But the rabbits started to become immune to the virus.  Recently, scientists developed the Calicivirus but this too is starting to be not effective.

There is a new program called RabbitScan, which maps where rabbits are. They do this by asking people to 'scan' their land (school, farm, park, ovals etc.) for any sign of rabbits (fasces, tracks) or damage done by rabbits (burrows, bite marks on plants etc.).

Once recording this information, they can upload it online This is only during May 2009.

Rabbits are rated in the top 3 pests in Australia.

They cause this damage by;

·        Eating vegetation, not just native grasses, and shrubs ,bushes etc. but of agricultural crops aswell.

·        Making warrens by burrowing underground which causes soil erosion and damages the soil structure

·      The rabbit plague of Australia

  Eating the vegetation in drought affected ares which would have kept some moisture in the soil,  and stops erosion

 Competing with other animals, both native and agricultural, for food.

Encouraging the predators of the rabbit (feral cats, foxes) to follow the rabbits as they spread across Australia.

The huge population of rabbits poses a large threat to over 150 native species. The feral rabbits cause over $206 million dollars damage to agricultural properties every year.

The results of this research will soon be made available so you can see how bad the bunnies are near you. 

Go to http://www.rabbitscan.net.au for more information on how you can help control this fluffy little problem.