Registration is now open for the 2023 Rabbit R&D Webinar, co-hosted by Rabbit-Free Australia and CISS (Centre for Invasive Species Solutions). This year the Webinar is looking at rabbits as part of bigger systems, with a focus on bio-controls (Dr Brian Cooke) and their role in ecosystems, including interactions with feral predators (A/Prof Katherine Moseby). […]
Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia is calling for the appointment of a national rabbit management coordinator and the development of a National Action Plan for rabbits. It is part of a policy statement released by the Foundation and circulated to parliamentarians around the country. More secure funding for rabbit control research is another of their priorities, […]
A strong social hierarchy (or ‘pecking order’) and territoriality help prevent inbreeding, giving species an adaptive advantage. Whether it be a dominant female stick-nest rat ruling the nest, or a dominant male rabbit ejecting young males from a warren and forcing them to settle in foreign territory, the result is the same. Genetic diversity, saving […]
The eradication of ‘every last rabbit, cat and fox’ provided the foundation for the reintroduction of native animals to Sturt National Park, in NW NSW. Two reserve areas, totaling 40 sq kms, are now supporting populations of greater bilbies, crest-tailed mulgara and Shark Bay bandicoots, after they disappeared from the area over 100 years ago. […]
Webinar presentations and references now available: all the latest rabbit research findings from CISS and Rabbit-Free Australia.
In a recent contribution to The Conversation, Associate Professor Katherine Moseby (UNSW) refers to rabbits, cats and foxes as an unholy trinity. Rabbits competed with native mammals for food and became food themselves for cats and foxes – inflating predator numbers and adding to the predation of native mammals. Katherine has over 25 years of […]
Rabbits and hares are the most widely spread herbivores in the Kosciuszko National Park, and are associated with less dense foliage, more bare ground and higher weed cover, according to a recent study published in Conservation Science and Practice. Rabbits were detected in 85% of study sites and over a wider range of elevations than […]
Feral cats are more dependent on rabbits as prey than quolls are, and cats favour areas where rabbits are more common. Reducing rabbit numbers is a good bet if wanting to reduce feral cat numbers.
Rabbits change entire ecosystems from the bottom up, and a couple of recent articles provide great examples of this, demonstrating how interconnected our environment is. It all starts with rabbits eating native vegetation; often very selectively taking out seedlings of the tastiest species. They are so good at this that they can completely prevent the […]
Blackberries provide great shelter for rabbits, so it makes good sense to clean them up together – and that’s what the Weeds & Rabbits Project has been promoting in Victoria. The project applied systems thinking to understand how people make decisions about pest and weed control, and to map the various groups and agencies involved. […]