This means researchers should continually develop new biocontrols - which are clearly astonishingly successful.īut this isn’t the only solution. Today, there are an estimated 150-200 million rabbits in Australia, we need to be on the front foot to manage this crisis. Red kangaroos became two to three times more abundant, and multiple species of desert rodent and a small marsupial carnivore (dusky hopping mouse, spinifex hopping mouse, plains rat, crest-tailed mulgara) all expanded their ranges.īut each time, after 10 to 20 years, the biocontrols stop working so well, as rabbits eventually built up a tolerance to the diseases. When rabbits were controlled, the number of red kangaroos doubled. This regeneration was so significant across large parts of the Simpson and Strzelecki Deserts, it could be seen from space. Native vegetation regenerated over enormous spans of land, including native pine, needle bush, umbrella wattle, witchetty bush and twin-leaved emu bush. Similarly, southern hairy-nosed wombats and swamp wallabies expanded their ranges.īy the time rabbit haemorrhagic disease was introduced in 1995, interest in conservation and the environment had grown and conservation benefits were better recorded. Red kangaroo populations increased so much that landholders were suddenly “ involved in a shooting war with hordes of kangaroos invading their properties”, according to a newspaper report at the time.įollowing the introduction of the European rabbit flea, native grasses became prolific along the Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia. Shutterstockĭespite the minor interest in conservation at the time, the spread of myxomatosis led to widespread regeneration in sheoaks for over five years, before rabbit numbers built back up. Rabbits eventually built up a tolerance to biocontrols. Rabbits also spread weeds, cause soil erosion and reduce the ability of soil to absorb moisture and support vegetation growth. For example, it took the complete eradication of rabbits from the semi-arid TGB Osborn reserve in South Australia, before most tree and shrub species could regenerate. Rabbits eat a high proportion of regenerating vegetation even when their population is at nearly undetectable levels. This means rabbits can have a severe toll on wildlife by swiftly eating young trees and shrubs soon after they emerge from the ground. Arid vegetation is slow growing and doesn’t regenerate often as rainfall is infrequent. Things are particularly dire in arid Australia where, in drought years, rabbits can eat a high proportion of the vegetation that grows, leaving little food for native animals. These prolonged impacts may undermine the long-term success of conservation programs to reintroduce mammals to the wild. In some ecosystems, rabbits have prevented the regeneration of plant communities for 130 years, resulting in shrub populations of only old, scattered individuals. Grazing competition from rabbits has been attributed to the decline of southern hairy-nosed wombats.
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