For most of us they're small and cute. But for farmers across southern New South Wales, they're a pest causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. Now a new national strategy to control feral rabbits is being developed, but will it be enough to keep numbers down?
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00:00 Armed with silent guns and high tech thermal cameras, these professional pest controllers
00:07 have never been busier.
00:14 Rabbits cost Australian farmers more than $200 million a year. Then there's the environmental
00:19 damage, soil erosion and the impact on native species. Culling is a vital part of keeping
00:25 numbers under control.
00:26 Our big knights can see us shoot up to 1500 rabbits in one night.
00:31 It's not uncommon to drive past a paddock or a hill and you would swear that the ground
00:36 was moving. There's just that many rabbits crawling across it.
00:40 Three years of regular rain have kept rabbits well fed.
00:44 When bunnies have the feed, they breed pretty much.
00:48 And the damage is clear.
00:50 This is just where they've started to eat in the last few nights and they'll work their
00:54 way down the hill and leave nothing left.
00:59 Farmers are using other strategies too. In the Riverina, 28 tonnes of carrots have been
01:04 used to lure the rabbits, then poison them.
01:07 This year's been an explosion. This is our third round of carrots.
01:11 For more than 70 years, biological control has been a key tool in keeping rabbit numbers
01:16 low.
01:17 There's currently two viruses circulating in Australian wild rabbits. One is the myxoma
01:23 virus, one is the calicivirus.
01:25 Over time, rabbits develop resistance and the viruses become less effective.
01:30 Scientists, industry and government have developed a national strategy for maintaining biological
01:35 control of rabbits. But it won't be enough on its own. So landholders need to be proactive
01:41 in keeping numbers down themselves.
01:43 It's money well invested if you've got a rabbit problem.
01:47 Getting the jump on rabbit control before it's too late.
01:50 (film reel clicking)
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