In China, rabbits can be divided into two kinds, one is a cute little pet, and in the story, Chang'e has a moon rabbit. The other is mouth-watering cuisine, braised rabbit meat, spicy rabbit head and so on have always been the favorite of foodies. No matter which one it is, the rabbit in China is a very precious existence, which can be said to be in short supply. But in Australia, it's not that people love rabbits, it's that rabbits torture humans. Australia's hare is a well-deserved hegemon, encroaching on the living space of a large number of humans. Rabbits are so delicious, how can Australians be afraid of rabbits?
The tragedy caused by 24 rabbits
There are no rabbits in Australia, and too many people like rabbits will gradually become a disaster. Because of its special geographical location, the Australian continent is independent of the world and has its own unique ecology and species, kangaroos, koalas, etc. are precious animals unique to Australia. Hares are one of the most widely distributed species in the world, and their ability to reproduce makes them fearless of any challenge. Once a British colony, many Europeans lived here, and they brought many things that Australia did not have before, including cute and harmless rabbits.
In 1859 an English farmer named Austin came to Australia and took 24 rabbits to his estate for hunting. There are no large carnivores in Australia, and the water and grass here are fertile and can be said to be a paradise for herbivores. The rabbits quickly adapted when they arrived here, but did not cause any disturbance because they were kept in captivity. This cute and delicious little animal is very popular, they not only treat rabbits as pets, but also eat rabbit meat, wear rabbit skin coats, and even lament that the number of rabbits is still too small.
The harm of hare flooding
Austin had a good idea, but he underestimated the ability of hares to reproduce. In just a few years, 24 hares have bred to tens of thousands. These rabbits began to appear in various places in Australia, a small rabbit can enter the breeding period in about six months, and a female rabbit can breed several litters a year, and when food is plentiful, the hare can grow to dozens of pounds, no different from a small pig. It didn't take long for Australians to discover the dangers of rabbits, which were classified as harmful in 1862. It is no accident that rabbits can dominate Australia, although they are very cute in appearance, they are literally resource predators.
Rabbits' recipes are not just simple grass, some bark, plant roots, crops, etc. are their favorites, a green field if targeted by rabbits, in a few months it will become "devastated", everywhere rabbit holes, green plants will be eaten away, grass has become a bare wasteland. The rabbit's rampage has severely damaged Australia's water and soil, and has also driven the native species to near extinction, and locals have begun to use various methods to try to exterminate the rabbits.
Australia's method of eliminating rabbits
Hunting for the whole people. Australia has spent a lot of money to encourage people to hunt hares, and at the height of the boom, Australians were able to hunt 2 million hares a year, which seems like a lot, but it is only a drop in the bucket compared to the breeding rate of rabbits. And this history of national hunting has also created a problem, that is, people have gradually lost interest in eating rabbit meat, which is too much to eat.
Introduce predators. Foxes are the biggest natural enemies of rabbits, and many foxes were introduced in Australia in the 1970s. In the beginning, the fox will still "work" well, and the hare will begin to reduce the number of breeding due to the sudden appearance of "old rivals". But the good times did not last long, and soon the fox was lazy. The hare is energetic, fast and agile, and it is very difficult to hunt. Australia's native herbivores are already lazy, and compared to hares, they are like a big meal to the mouth. After adapting to the environment, the fox's main food became native animals, which made them worse and more scarce.
The great fence that defends the territory. In the early 20th century, Australia built thousands of kilometres of rabbit fencing to keep hares from invading. The fence did not block the crazy expansion of the rabbit, but brought a lot of inconvenience to people's lives, and finally became a "chicken rib" project.
Use viruses. When the number of rabbits reached 10 billion, ordinary means could no longer do anything. In the end, Australia chose to use the virus to solve the problem of hares. Scientists have found a virus that produces myxomas from the Americas, and the arrival of the virus has caused the number of hares to begin to plummet. The virus kills more than 90% of hares, and it seems that Australia's "de-rabbitization" is about to succeed, but at this time, the rabbits that have been screened have also mutated, and many rabbits with strong drug resistance have appeared, and the effect of the virus has become weaker and weaker. Around 1990, the number of rabbits returned to hundreds of millions. Subsequently, Australia wanted to introduce a new virus, but this did not fundamentally solve the problem of hare flooding, and until now Australia is still fighting with hares.