The myxoma virus found in Australia has evolved to better suppress the immune system of rabbits, according to a team of Australian and American researchers. Rabbits with a weakened immune system will also be more vulnerable to other diseases. The team, led by Peter Kerr from the University of Sydney and CSIRO, concluded the myxoma […]
Author of ‘Those Wild Rabbits’, Bruce Munday, is interviewed on the ABC Radio’s ‘Conversations’. Listen to the ABC interview for some great yarns about bunnies and their control.
The Koonamore vegetation monitoring reserve shows rabbit control is essential for the regeneration of many tree and shrub seedlings – and a donation from RFA is helping with re-fencing. Thanks to funding support from RFA and others, Koonamore – the longest running vegetation monitoring project in Australia – has been able to upgrade part of […]
Bruce Munday, author of RFA supported book ‘Those Wild Rabbits’, has been interviewed on ABC Radio National by Phillip Adams. To hear the interview online, visit the Radio National Late Night Live website.
The spread of the Calici virus (RHDV) has been cited as a contributor to the recovery of the native Plains Mouse (pseudomys australis). Katherine Tuft, Manager of Arid Recovery (a conservation reserve in outback SA), has reported high numbers of the native mice. “We think that a combination of good rainy years and the knockdown […]
Rabbit Free Australia is a proud sponsor of a unique book about rabbits, and rabbit research, in Australia. ‘Those Wild Rabbits – How They Shaped Australia’, authored by writer and conservationist Bruce Munday, tells the tale of the European wild rabbit in Australia through the eyes of those associated with it. The book highlights the damage […]
A family of feral bunnies can eat $1 million worth of lettuce in a year, and that is why producers in the Lockyer Valley are supporting the Darling Downs Moreton Rabbit Board in a control program. For more information see the Rural Weekly interview with Dr David Berman.
As if snow gums didn’t have enough to contend with as temperatures rise, rabbits are now an additional pressure. Ken Green of Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service has discovered rabbits living above the winter snowline, by grazing on the leaves of snow gums regenerating after bushfires. To learn about theories on how rabbits have […]
A recent paper in the Rangeland Journal has concluded that attempts to preserve plant biodiversity by removing livestock are destined to fail in rabbit-grazed rangelands. The paper cites studies that show little evidence of grazing-sensitive plants finding refuge in water-remote areas (sites of low grazing pressure from livestock) – while plant biodiversity gradients are readily […]
Notes about the history of rabbits and biocontrols in Australia have been uploaded to the PestSmart website. For more information see the Key Facts.