2001 September 24. Rabbit Flat Roadhouse.
Around the turn of the century, rabbits, numbering in their millions, took Australia by storm, eating everything in their path. White settlers had brought them from Europe to be hunted for sport, in the same manner as foxes were introduced. Inevitably, many of these escaped the fate people had intended for them, and, once in the wild, both their numbers and the area they covered expanded phenomenally quickly – as our maths update explores.
Shrubs, seedlings, and when they were exhausted the bark of trees, were devastated, leaving no food for native animals. They also occupied the burrows of the natives, and dug their own, causing erosion. Eventually, they destroyed the ecosystem so effectively that there was not enough vegetation remaining to support their numbers, and populations dropped due to starvation.
Today, rabbits form the main food of both wedge tailed eagles and dingoes, as the native mammals which originally formed their diets have gone. The decline of the Rabbit-eared bandicoot (Bilby) is largely due to the introduction of rabbits.
Suggested learning activities: how do introduced animals in your country fit into the food chain? Are there rabbits where you live? See if you can find out the effect rabbits and similar feral animals have or have had on your local environment.
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