100 years ago the most degraded part of a pastoral property near Yunta (SA) was fenced off to study the recovery of vegetation once stock had been removed. The idea of fencing out stock and monitoring ecological change was a science innovation of the time. Recovery of many species was slow until a vigilant campaign […]
Rabbits are popping up in urban and peri-urban areas across the nation and can be difficult to control. Fewer control options are available and communities can have mixed views on whether control should occur or not. Through a Peri-Urban Rabbit Forum, Rabbit-Free Australia has been working with managers from all states to understand the issues […]
Natarsha McPherson and Bertram Ostendorf have recently published on a project from the Nullarbor Plains, ‘Detecting rabbit and wombat warrens in broad-scale satellite imagery’. They found significant correlation between field and satellite based estimates of warrens with a user accuracy of 91% for wombats and 81% for rabbits. However the resolution of Google Earth and […]
Rabbit-Free Australia promotes ‘Bilbies not Bunnies’ because in Spain and Portugal, the home of European wild rabbits, they are mainstays of local ecosystems, bringing widespread benefits – but in Australia, wild rabbits are more like ‘ecosystem saboteurs’, dismantling whole ecosystems bit by bit. Rabbits can devastate our environment. In Australia, the bilby plays a role […]
Could gene drive technology target the abundant fertility of wild rabbits in Australia, stopping them breeding and being an effective, humane rabbit biocontrol? The 2025 CISS/Rabbit-Free Australia Rabbit R&D Webinar explored that question, covering everything from the fundamentals of the science, research to develop gene drives for rabbits, dispersal and risk management, and the ongoing […]
The 2025 Rabbit R&D Webinar, hosted by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions and Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia, will focus on gene-drive technology. It will bring researchers and practitioners together to help people understand this rapidly developing technology and enable informed discussions within communities about its potential for rabbit control and the issues involved. The […]
‘Eat the Invaders’, went to air on ABC TV and ABC iview on Tuesday January 7, 2025. Hosted by Tony Armstrong the first episode looked at rabbits, provocatively asking if ‘our unwanted ecological trash’ can be turned into ‘culinary gold’. It was a great show, highlighting the harm rabbits cause and provoking conversations about how to control […]
When it comes to rabbit control ‘near enough’ often isn’t ‘good enough’ for effective results. A new publication presents the science behind ‘best practice’ rabbit baiting programs to ensure they are efficient and effective, and have least risk to non-target animals. The practices aim to get maximum uptake of viable baits by rabbits for optimal […]
How do you get best value from a release of RHDV-K5? The answer, and the science behind it, is in ‘Optimal benefit from RHDV-K5’ the latest publication by Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia. Technical experts and end-users from around Australia have collaborated to produce the document, in response to questions from regional rabbit managers. View the […]
A burst in rabbit numbers in many parts of Australia has been accompanied by reports of a surge in calicivirus (RHDV) and myxomatosis. Researchers monitoring both diseases are urging anyone finding a dead rabbit to provide a tissue sample to help monitor how the viruses are evolving in different regions of Australia. For more information […]