Feral rabbit numbers are booming, so do myxomatosis and calicivirus still work, and what’s next for biocontrol?
Feral rabbit numbers are booming, so do myxomatosis and calicivirus still work, and what’s next for biocontrol?
Tags: Genetic biocontrol, Oceania, Other mammals, Pest managementBelinda Smith, ABC News, 2026.
If you’ve noticed more feral rabbits around than usual, you’re right. Much of Australia is experiencing a bunny boom, driven by consecutive years of good breeding conditions. But with an estimated 200 million feral European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) currently hopping around the continent, you might also have wondered if the viruses that kept their numbers down in the past — myxoma virus and a calicivirus that causes rabbit haemorrhagic disease — still work. Heidi Kleinert, national feral rabbit management coordinator at the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, says ideally Australia needs to develop and release a new biocontrol every 10 to 15 years to keep rabbit numbers as low as possible. “It takes time to find another effective virus that we know is targeted specifically to rabbits, and we know is proven and tested and has approval from government organisations,” Ms Kleinert says. “Across Australia, we’re seeing more rabbits in peri-urban and urban areas. That’s why we need that continuous pipeline of biological control, because in these areas we can’t use bait and toxins close to domestic housing and domestic pets.” So how do myxoma and rabbit haemorrhagic disease viruses work, and what goes into finding the next bunny biocontrol weapon?
