Rabbits
- Beginning: Mid-19th century
- Problem 1: Englishman in Australia liked hunting rabbits
- Problem 2: Australia had no rabbits
- Easy solution: have nephew in England send
rabbits
- Rabbits released into wild in 1859
- In 10 years Australia was
overrun with rabbits
- Rabbits became a critical problem
- By 1950 numbers reached up to 10 billion, depending on source!
- Economic losses in 2004 estimated at $200 million
- You can't shoot them fast enough
-
Myxoma virus introduced in 1950s
- Transmitted by mosquitoes and fleas
- Initially killed over 98% of rabbits
- Population might have reached 100 billion otherwise!
- Virus is still killing at least 50% of infected rabbits
- RHD virus introduced in 1995
- Both drastically reduced rabbit population
- Today Australia still has rabbits - lots of rabbits
- Exterminating them completely may be impossible
- Australia still dependent on rabbit diseases to control numbers
