Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again?

由 AI 翻译自 The Guardian · Animals

Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again? | Australia news | The Guardian Skip to main content Skip to navigation Close dialogue 1 / 3 Next image Previous image Toggle caption Print subscriptions Newsletters Sign in US US edition UK edition Australia edition Europe edition International edition The Guardian - Back to home The Guardian News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle Show more Hide expanded menu News View all News US news US politics Midterms 2026 World news Climate crisis Middle East Ukraine US immigration Soccer Business Environment Tech Science Newsletters The Filter Wellness Opinion View all Opinion The Guardian view Columnists Letters Opinion videos Cartoons Sport View all Sport Soccer NFL Tennis MLB MLS NBA WNBA NHL F1 Golf Culture View all Culture Film Books Music Art & design TV & radio Stage Classical Games Design a better world Lifestyle View all Lifestyle The Filter Wellness Fashion Food Recipes Love & sex Home & garden Health & fitness Family Travel Money Search input google-search Search Support us Print subscriptions Newsletters Download the app Search jobs Digital Archive Guardian Licensing Live events About Us The Guardian app Video Podcasts Pictures Inside the Guardian Guardian Weekly Crosswords Wordiply Corrections Tips Search input google-search Search Search jobs Digital Archive Guardian Licensing Live events About Us Environment Climate crisis Wildlife Energy Pollution Green light Rabbit numbers have been rising in recent years around Australia - cinemagraph Australia news Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again? Scientists say good rainfall and growing resistance to viruses are to blame for increasing rabbit populations around the country Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Graham Readfearn Climate and environment reporter Sun 13 Sep 2026 11.00 EDT Last modified on Sun 13 Sep 2026 11.01 EDT Share Prefer the Guardian on Google Jojo the rabbit-detecting dog is working eight days on, two days off, running up to 20 kilometres a day chasing rabbits in the south-west of Bon Bon Reserve in South Australia’s arid centre. “She’s being kept very busy,” says Dr Pat Taggart, an ecologist with Bush Heritage Australia, a conservation body that owns the former sheep property. “I don’t actually think she has ever caught one. Her job is to scare them back into the burrows.” Jojo – a five-year-old kelpie/jack russell/whippet cross – has been helping staff locate and map warrens so they can be fumigated or ripped up. View image in fullscreen JoJo the five-year-old kelpie-jack russell-whippet cross. Photograph: Tracks Australia There is an ongoing battle at Bon Bon to keep rabbit numbers in check, especially after recent rains. Fresh shoots of native plants like acacia and mulga should be providing habitat for native species but are instead becoming food and breeding fuel for rabbits . The population growth at Bon Bon and Boolcoomatta reserve to the east, is being repeated around Australia. The European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, is one of Australia’s worst feral pests. After a wet winter in central and southern parts of the country, their numbers are booming. “We’ve noticed increases all around the country,” the director of research, development and engagement at the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS), Dr John Virtue, says. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email In particular, Virtue points to rabbit hotspots in southern parts of Western Australia, suburban Canberra; peri-urban areas around Adelaide; the New South Wales Riverina; and southern Queensland. In Albany in southern WA, rabbits at “plague-levels” have invaded farms and one of the country’s top golf courses. Greens on the golf course had as many as 30 rabbits “having a party” each evening and grounds staff have been battling to fill holes dug by the rabbits. “They can get to incredible numbers and you see the whole landscape gets denuded,” Virtue says. From 24 to 200 million Though they were introduced on the first fleet during the British invasion in 1788, research has traced the species’ continent-wide spread to one consignment of 24 rabbits brought in to the country by settler Thomas Austin in 1859. By the 1920s, rabbits had reached plague proportions with estimates numbering them in their billions. More recent counts put the current population at closer to 200 million but the true number is unknown as there is no formal monitoring. Their impact on the landscape has been measured. One study found rabbits were having negative effects on 329 threatened species in Australia – more than any other invasive pest. Mice in walls, food stores, even beds – Australia’s mouse plague is driving some towns to desperation Read more They can breed year round with a good food supply, but in temperate areas breeding season is in both autumn and spring after rain. If left alone,