Rabbits continue to be a serious problem in Australia, and are estimated to cost agricultural industries around A$200 million each year as well as causing severe environmental damage. (5:32)
Since the arrival of rabbits in the mid-nineteenth century and the following population explosion, every possible method of control has been employed, including the introduction of the rabbit-borne viruses, myxoma and calicivirus.
These diseases are still having an impact, though over the years their effectiveness have declined.
What is now making this situation worse is a benign form of calicivirus among some rabbit populations, which provides them with immunity against the more virulent strain.
Dr Tanja Strive from CSIRO Entomology and the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre has found that rabbits in cool, high rainfall areas carry this immunity-giving virus.
In this podcast Dr Strive explains how the benign calicivirus is protecting these rabbit population and the research being carried out to address it, while Professor Tony Peacock, CEO of the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, describes the cost to ecosystem management.
Read more about Rabbits on the back foot – but they’re fighting back naturally.
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