One of the world’s largest programs to eradicate multiple predators and pests has started to restore the island and its once vast nesting colonies to their former glory.
You might think of bunnies as ubiquitous, but it’s actually a relatively small group of species – and many of them are unique, little-known, and in trouble.
New research finds 74% of land managers who reported releasing a powerful biocontrol release it during the peak rabbit breeding period. This can lead to rabbit populations actually increasing.
Rabbits destroy huge numbers of critical regenerating seedlings over more than half the continent. This has devastating flow-on effects for the rest of the ecosystem. So how do we control them?
Feral rabbits previously exposed to myxoma virus are more likely to be killed by rabbit haemorrhagic diease, meaning that these two biocontrol agents can become even more powerful when used in tandem.
On Christmas Day 1859, the Victoria Acclimatisation Society released 24 rabbits for hunting, to help settlers feel more at home. Given the millions of dollars in damage to agricultural productivity that…
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University