Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again?
Guardian AU
•Sun, 13 Sep 2026 15:00:08 GMT
📰 What Happened
Rabbit numbers are rising across Australia. Scientists blame a wet winter and the rabbits' growing resistance to the viruses used to control them.
Rabbits eat new shoots of native plants like acacia and mulga before they can grow. That takes food and shelter from native animals. They also feed feral cats and foxes, which then hunt native wildlife.
Rangers are fighting back. At Bon Bon Reserve in South Australia, a rabbit-detecting dog named Jojo runs up to 20 kilometres a day. Her job is to find warrens so they can be fumigated or ripped up.
🔍 The Backstory
Rabbits arrived with the First Fleet in 1788. Research traces the nationwide spread to just 24 rabbits brought to Victoria by settler Thomas Austin in 1859.
By the 1920s their numbers reached plague levels. Today scientists guess there are about 200 million, though no one counts them properly. One study found rabbits harm 329 threatened species, more than any other pest.
Two viruses have helped: myxoma in the 1950s and calicivirus from the 1990s. Calicivirus cut numbers by up to 95 per cent in dry areas. But it is losing strength as rabbits adapt.
🎯 Why It Matters
Rabbits cost farmers about $200 million a year and push native animals closer to extinction. A single boom year can undo years of conservation work.
Rabbit numbers are rising across Australia. Scientists blame a wet winter and the rabbits' growing resistance to the viruses used to control them.
Rabbits eat new shoots of native plants like acacia and mulga before they can grow. That takes food and shelter from native animals. They also feed feral cats and foxes, which then hunt native wildlife.
Rangers are fighting back. At Bon Bon Reserve in South Australia, a rabbit-detecting dog named Jojo runs up to 20 kilometres a day. Her job is to find warrens so they can be fumigated or ripped up.
Rabbits arrived with the First Fleet in 1788. Research traces the nationwide spread to just 24 rabbits brought to Victoria by settler Thomas Austin in 1859.
By the 1920s their numbers reached plague levels. Today scientists guess there are about 200 million, though no one counts them properly. One study found rabbits harm 329 threatened species, more than any other pest.
Two viruses have helped: myxoma in the 1950s and calicivirus from the 1990s. Calicivirus cut numbers by up to 95 per cent in dry areas. But it is losing strength as rabbits adapt.
Rabbits cost farmers about $200 million a year and push native animals closer to extinction. A single boom year can undo years of conservation work.