Glenn McGrath speaks about RabbitScan program
WIN News, WIN Ballarat, 05/03/09 06.44pm
Glenn McGrath is leading the way to help stamp out one of Australia’s worst feral pests - the rabbit.
Newsreader: Former cricket great and rural landowner, Glenn McGrath is leading the way to help stamp out one of Australia's worst feral pests. RabbitScan is an initiative that calls on residents across the country to count and track down rabbit populations so authorities can take effective action.
Reporter: He may be better known for his skill with the ball, but the former Narromine boy wants to bowl out the rabbit threat across the country.
Glenn McGrath: We must take action now to prevent an explosion in the rabbit population before it is too late.
Reporter: It's been 150 years since rabbits were introduced into Australia. In 1950, the world's first successful biological control program wiped out 99 per cent of Australia's rabbits. Numbers dropping further following the introduction of the Colesi(*) virus in 1995, landowner David Lord recounting the horrors from farming log books from yesteryear to today. With more than 1700 warrens on his property at Broken Hill, he's declared the rodent is again growing in numbers.
David Lord: We know, science tells us, that one rabbit per hectare is sufficient to suppress all recruitment of native species. So, if you've got anything more than that, you're going nowhere...
Reporter: Government and industry launching a website for Aussies to take action across the country's 56 major catchments during a month long campaign in May.
Glenn McGrath: I'm appealing to people throughout Australia to help us count and map the rabbit population. To enable us to effectively target and manage rabbits, we need at least 5000 individuals, groups or schools...
Reporter: More information can be found on the RabbitScan website. Janyne Manwarring, WIN News.
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