What can Australia do about its Rabbit problem?
RCrumb asked:
The English introduced them, and they are non-native and damaging to the environment there.
My solution is Kevin’s new Labour government can hire professional hunters 24/7, and butchers, and dressers and refrigerator trucks in tow, then sell the meat to the rest of the world, especially to Hong Kong, until there are again no more rabbits in Australia.
The English introduced them, and they are non-native and damaging to the environment there.
My solution is Kevin’s new Labour government can hire professional hunters 24/7, and butchers, and dressers and refrigerator trucks in tow, then sell the meat to the rest of the world, especially to Hong Kong, until there are again no more rabbits in Australia.
i didnt know we had a rabbit problem,,,, or are you talking ppl?
rabbits r cute, what about Cane toads?? yyuukkk
Yeah why not? Every past attempt to get rid of them has ended in failure.
Possums are a major pest in New Zealand, so our industrious neighbours are hunting them and using them for commercial purposes, I think they’ve got the right idea.
Well, to me this sounds like the nutria problem in Louisianna……they were over run with thes nasty(but tasty) little rodents…..the began a campaign to educate & encourage people to hunt the nutria & cook them….they advertised health benefits of the meat, a wide variety of recipes for the nutria…..I don’t know why rabbit can’t be treated the same way.It also helps if there aren’t alot of limits/restrictions put on hunters….you don’t want to totally eradicate the rabbits, just control the population. By educating people on the nutritional value, the many ways it can be prepared & relaxing hunting laws so the hunters can hunt & profit from their bounty…..you create a need & market for the rabbit…..also, why not ask hunters to donate their excess meat to food kitchens & shelters??? Alot of time here where I live, if a person accidentally say hits a deer…& kills it…you can claim the carcass & donate it to a food pantry for feeding the poor & homeless…..but, if you totally eradicate the rabbits….and have created a niche for them(a need/market)…..eventually those who like the rabbit, and can’t find it anymore because it was totally eradicated….will again import rabbits…then where will you be?
“What can Australia do about its Rabbit problem?
The English introduced them, and they are non-native and damaging to the environment there.”
was your question
unless you are an aboriginie i would look closer to home
and no i am not english
rost them all!!!!
with rosemary and garlic they are fantastic!
First of all, culling and selling rabbits might not meet safety standards, because myxomatosis is already endemic in Australian rabbit populations, and in some instances does not kill, leaving tumours in rabbit flesh when it is dressed for the table. Even if it was proven that myxomatosis did not break the rabbit-human barrier through the consumption of rabbit flesh, it would still be a turn off to consumers. Particularly the Asian markets, which are picky about their produce, and with their thriving economies, rightly so.
Rabbits are a real problem in Australia. However, professional hunters at the moment are already after wild pigs and foxes and to a lesser extent crossbred dingos in Queensland, which are already creating an industry. Rabbits, because of their small stature and ability to evade predators by hiding underground, are a much more difficult target to kill.
Calicivirus went some of the way to controlling rabbit populations, but also cause problems for pet owners and for those who are farming rabbits legitimately for overseas markets. Farmed rabbits are large, white creatures which would not survive long if not in captivity.
Wholesale slaughter of feral rabbits is unpleasant and unpalatable. A better approach might be some sort of chemical or biological weapon which renders them sterile. This would drastically reduce their numbers, as they are prolific breeders and will survive on feed that no commercially farmed livestock could live on. Brutally slaughtering animals is unethical, but sometimes necessary. Introducing a species specific predatory microorganism such as Calicivirus, but with government and scientific control measures (rather than an ‘accidental’ release of the virus) and measures set up to protect legitimate farmers, might be a more cost effective method of control, rather than the environmental damage hunters will do.
If you put a bounty on rabbits, every man and his dog who fancies himself with a rifle will be out in sensitive environmental areas, shooting at anything that moves. I know first hand the damage hunters can do, especially when they let their dogs go in a flock of sheep in order to ‘warm them up’. There would be no controlling them.
I think biological control is the way to go.