Rabbit Invasion of Austrailia

How they got there

Brought there in 1788 with the first fleet, used for hunting for the purpose of making Australia like Europe

The Bunny's grew all along the east and THE government set up a plan to make stop the rabbits from moving westward

a fence was built to stop the expansion but rabbits already moved to west.

By 1920 24 rabbits have turned into 10 billion

Reasons for the growth of rabbits

• That rabbits can make 18-30 babies per year
• Adaptation was living Farmlands, green-lands, and wet coastal plains

Getting rid of the Bunny

The Governments started to burn and poison rabbit holes

The Rabbit population was too much for just poison to kill. They had to bring in a new way

Myxomatosis was introduced in 1950 to try to stop expansion. The poison killed about 99% of rabbits in a Area.

Mosquitoes would help spread the poison to all parts of Australia. But the parts mosquitoes couldn't live wouldn't get the poison

The rabbits adapted to the poison and only 40% of rabbits that got infected would die

RHD causes blood clots to develop in the rabbit's lungs, heart and kidneys. The clots block blood vessels and death from heart and respiratory failure.

Then a doctor discovered that rabbits carry native calicivirus that give them immunity

Rabbits population suffered massively from all the poisons.

Reasons for rabbit deacrease

• Myxomatosis kill most of the rabbits on the area it got to
• RHD Poison and fire destroyed area's

Macquarie Island

In the 1900s the rabbit population exploded, and in 1968 the myxomatosis was released.

this project was successful and rabbit numbers reduced from 130,000 to 20,000 in the 1980s.

FURTURE PLAN

The authorities are discussing with the local people to remove rabbits on sight if possible to help the population lower and possibly help stop the population.

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