© picture alliance / Zoonar | Ewald Fr
Australia is struggling with an exploding rabbit population of an estimated 250 million animals, while the main method of control is no longer working. The rabbits are now resistant to viruses used to control the population for decades.
The plague began more than 150 years ago when British settlers imported rabbits. Since then, the animals have spread across three-quarters of the continent. Genetic research has shown that nearly all wild rabbits are descended from the first 24 ancestors released for rabbit hunting by a British landowner.
Rabbits threaten 322 native plant and animal species, cause soil erosion and cost agriculture more than 150 million euros annually. That amount could reach 1.2 billion euros if no action is taken.
Scientists are looking for alternatives such as genetic modification, but research takes time, while government is cutting funding. "If we do nothing, we will lose unique Australian animals and plants forever," Heidi Kleinert, national coordinator of rabbit control at the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, an Australian non-profit organization, told NIS.
In the 1920s, Australia had an estimated 10 billion rabbits. Shooting and poisoning them barely helped, so scientists introduced the myxomatosis virus in 1950, which reduced the population to about 100 million. When the rabbits became resistant to it, new viruses followed in the 1990s and 2017, but the animals are now resistant to those, too. A replacement virus is not yet available due to lack of funding.
"We need to learn from history and realize that rabbits are thieves of our landscape. If we do nothing, they will continue. They won't just disappear," Kleinert added.
Picture: © picture alliance / Zoonar | Ewald Fr