At a recent meeting the RFA Committee resolved to consider forming two sub-committees in the new year: one focused on research and one on communications, the two most important facets of the Foundation’s work. Although yet to be finalised, their roles are likely to include: Research: Oversee an annual call for projects, liaise with the […]
The national Bilby Recovery Plan is under review, and new research may help re-introductions in southern Australia. The Bilby was adopted as a mascot by RFA to highlight the impact of rabbits on native wildlife and vegetation. According to the draft Recovery Plan for the Greater Bilby; ‘Bilby distribution is associated with an absence or […]
Spotlight counts of rabbits from 116 sites across Australia, taken over 41 years, have enabled modellers to better understand what makes a ‘rabbit hotspot’ – places of high rabbit persistence. These areas are high priorities for well-timed eradication programs. The research team was able to use the survey data to test a new model of […]
‘If overabundant wildlife populations are not reduced by some means, the result must be death by starvation or disease coupled with extensive damage to other species in these ecosystems,’ say ecologists Charley Krebs and Judy Myers. The killing of animals is abhorrent to many people, but alternative controls (e.g. capture and relocation or sterilisation) or […]
The RHDV1-K5 team from the Centre for Invasive Species (CISS) has won a National Biosecurity Award for work in the 2017 release and monitoring of the rabbit control virus. When accepting the Award, the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions noted it was a strong cooperative endeavour between the Australian Government, NSW Department of Primary Industries, […]
Two recent articles suggest that bilbies can persist under low predation levels from feral cats, but the ‘threshold question’ remains open. Is there a threshold cat density above which bilbies can’t survive – and if so, what is it; and does it vary between locations? For more information, see Moseby et, al., (2018) in Austral […]
The TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve at Koonamore is the longest-running vegetation monitoring site of its kind in Australia – and site data is now readily available to researchers. The site has not been grazed by sheep for over 50 years, and has been rabbit-free for over 40 yrs – so there is a wealth of […]
Australia’s feral rabbits fall into three primary genetic lineages, with three other highly localised ones, according to a recently published research paper. The results suggest the rabbits originated from different introductions across the country, rather than a single site. The research, assisted in part by funding from the Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia, examined the […]
CSIRO funded researchers have discovered why young rabbits are immune to RHDV1, but not RHDV2. It seems that young rabbits have a naturally heightened immune system, but RHDV2 is able to shut down the elevated immune state – whereas RHDV1 is not. For more information, see the Research Updates in Feral Flyer Issue 350 (the […]
Ecological modellers have shown how reducing wild rabbit numbers helps maintain small native mammals. Benefits for small mammals occur when 30-40% of rabbits are removed through a mix of biological and physical controls. Higher rates of rabbit removal can lead to a decline in small mammals in the short term, but with subsequent long term […]