Rabbit numbers booming across Australia after good rains
European rabbit populations are surging across Australia due to good rainfall and virus resistance, threatening native species.
Rabbit numbers are exploding across Australia, with plague levels in Albany, Western Australia, suburban Canberra and areas near Adelaide. Scientists say good rainfall causes the surge, along with growing resistance to viruses used for control.
At Albany, rabbits invade farms and a top golf course, with about 30 grazing the greens each evening. At Bon Bon Reserve in South Australia, a dog named Jojo hunts rabbits, running up to 20 kilometres each day to scare them back into burrows.
Workers then fumigate or dig them out. Rabbits breed all year when food is good, with populations growing tenfold in a single season.
The European rabbit harms 329 threatened species, more than any other invasive pest. Australia's rabbit population is estimated at around 200 million, though the true number is unknown as there is no official monitoring system.
- 30 each evening
- Rabbits on Albany golf course
- up to 20 kilometres
- Jojo's daily running distance
- 329 species
- Threatened species harmed
- around 200 million
- Estimated rabbit population
Why it mattersGrowing rabbit populations threaten Australia's native species and farming output. Control measures are becoming less effective at the same time.
AustraliaAustralians in affected regions face crop damage and habitat loss, while conservation efforts need new strategies as traditional virus controls lose effectiveness.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 11 d ago
