Invasive Species Council - The Bunnies of Conservation
Game Council NSW
6 July 2009
The Invasive Species Council (ISC) appear to have put their foot in their mouth once again in a recent letter to the Sydney Morning Herald on 1 July 2009.
In the letter, the ISC’s Dr Carol Booth states: “It defies biology to class recreational shooting of a few thousand feral animals (half of them rabbits) across two million hectares of State forest as successful control”.
The few thousand feral animals removed by conservation hunters in NSW Dr Booth refers to is actually more like 25,000, including 3500 feral pigs, 4500 feral goats, 2500 foxes and, most notably, 12,000 rabbits.
The significance of 12,000 rabbits removed from state forests around NSW seems to be lost on the ISC. Perhaps they need to browse the Invasive Animal Cooperative Research Centre’s webpage which has the following to say about rabbits in Australia:
“Rabbits are considered the biggest feral problem in Australia (in economic terms), estimated to cause about $200 million damage a year. Their prodigious breeding rate, as well as their ability to adapt successfully to most Australian habitats, means that a single pair can increase in 18 months to 184 individuals. From an initial release of 24 wild rabbits in 1859, the population had increased to an estimated 10 billion by 1926, and rabbits were then such a serious problem that many farms were abandoned”
“And yet groups like the Invasive Species Council disparage the efforts of voluntary conservation hunters in providing positive outcomes for feral and game animal control in NSW, one has to wonder about the true motives of such organisations?” Game Council Chairman Robert Borsak said.
Game Council-licensed hunters have also removed approximately 200,000 more rabbits from private property over the three years and a half years of voluntary conservation hunting in NSW. This figure combined with the 12,000 rabbits removed in State Forests and the rabbit’s capacity to breed would equate to millions of rabbits removed from NSW ecosystems.
Rabbits destroy native plants and directly contribute to severe soil erosion, they out-compete native species including the greater bilby and their presence allows for greater numbers of opportunistic predators including foxes and feral cats.
“Licensed hunters also spend more than $41 million dollars hunting each year, mostly in recession hit rural areas of NSW.”
“This voluntary activity shows the positive role that conservation hunting provides to the environment, agriculture, and economy of NSW.”
“A win for the ecology and the economy of NSW,” Mr Borsak said.
Media contact: David Dixon 02 6360 5103 or 0429 991 824.
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