| scientific wormhole
When it comes to rabbits, some people think of fluffy soft pets, some people think of fragrant spicy rabbit heads, but Australians think of a flood of rabbit armies.
Australia was once flooded with hares, which was a disaster, and the number of hares once grew to 10 billion, and each of them was fat and strong, and could even grow to nearly 100 pounds.
But for the large and fat rabbits, the locals did not use the power of foodies, but worked hard to launch six encirclements and suppressions.
Soft rabbit invades Australia
The soft and cute appearance of the rabbit has caused the most costly biological invasion in human history, and the "victim" is Australia. Yes, there are no rabbits on the Australian continent, and humans brought rabbits over.
In 1788, the British naval fleet landed in Sydney Bay, Australia, accompanied by a group of European rabbits (also known as domestic rabbits). These rabbits are mainly eaten by the British, basically in captivity, and few rabbits are left in the wild to form wild populations.
The impetus for rabbits to fall into the wild and flood was the arrival of Thomas Austin, an English farmer. In 1859, Austin brought 24 domestic rabbits, 5 hares and 72 quails to Australia.
Austin brought these animals not for food, but for hunting. After arriving in Australia, Austin released rabbits into his territory, but what he did not expect was that this move actually triggered australia's nearly a hundred years of "human rabbit war".
The rabbits brought by Austin multiplied rapidly, and some of the offspring felt the call of nature and escaped from the territory and ran into the wild!
Rabbits fleeing into the wild continue to multiply, forming a wild population that cannot be underestimated, and continue to grow.
By 1866, it was estimated that the spread rate of rabbit offspring reached 130 km / year; By 1907, they had spread to the east and west coasts of Australia, spreading across the continent.
By 1926, the number of rabbits in Australia had reached a staggering number: 10 billion!
Rao is a vast Australian continent, and it can't eat the invasion of tens of billions of rabbits. Under the rabbit infestation, Australia's agriculture, animal husbandry, and ecological environment have suffered heavy losses.
Australia's flooded rabbit pit is miserable
It is understood that 10 billion rabbits eat grass equivalent to the stocking of 1 billion sheep, which is a huge blow to Australia, which has the sheep industry as the economic pillar.
The ancestors of these rabbits are domestic rabbits, and domestic rabbits are domesticated from burrowing rabbits, and they all have one skill: punching holes. Therefore, the flooded rabbits are not afraid of environmental changes, nibbling on pasture when the water and grass are abundant, and digging holes and nibbling on the skin when the climate is not good.
In this way, the grass was badly damaged, the cattle and sheep had no food, the ground was full of pits, and if they were not careful, they would step into it and fall on a big heel. Because of the potholes, it is also difficult for farmers to use large machinery.
In addition to agriculture and animal husbandry, Australia's ecological environment is also seriously threatened, with soil erosion and soil degradation. At the same time, dozens of native animals have become extinct or nearly extinct due to the explosion of rabbits.
Why are rabbits able to occupy Australia?
What is the reason why rabbits, which are not threatening in appearance, have flooded Australia? First, these rabbits are exotic species, and no native predator can curb their growth.
Moreover, at that time, Australia was sparsely populated, and it had fertile land and a suitable climate. Rabbits have to eat and live, and they are not afraid of natural enemies, so naturally they have to live with taste.
More importantly, rabbits are extremely reproductive. Rabbits can give birth to 6 babies a year, with at least 4 rabbits per litter. These rabbits grow up to 6 months old and have fertility and can take on the responsibility of reproduction.
So in a short period of time, the wild population of rabbits has rapidly expanded, becoming an invasive alien species that is a headache for locals.
The government has encircled and suppressed tens of billions of hares six times, and can only say that it has done its best
In order to save the economy and ecological environment, the Australian government has come up with many ways to rectify the hare, open the "human rabbit war", and encircle and suppress the hare six times.
The first encirclement and suppression used traditional methods and predator control to reduce the number of hares. The government called on the people to hunt and kill the flooded hares by hunting, laying nets, and plugging holes; It also introduced the rabbit's natural enemy, the fox.
However, the hare population has become a climate, and the rate of reproduction has not decreased. In the face of such a powerful enemy, the traditional methods had little effect, and the first encirclement and suppression failed.
The second encirclement and suppression, "the master is in the folk", released a reward to collect methods to exterminate rabbits. To this end, the NSW Government offered a £25,000 bounty.
A biologist, Pasteur, invited 3 experts to discuss countermeasures and came up with a way to infect hares with infectious diseases, but because there were few relevant studies, there was no effect.
The third encirclement and suppression, the construction of the "Rabbit Prevention Great Wall". The so-called "Great Wall" is actually a fence that stretches for several kilometers, and a total of 3 roads have been built before and after, with a length of more than 3,000 kilometers.
The Great Wall of Mankind can block the enemy, but the Great Wall of Rabbit Prevention cannot stop the rabbit. These rabbits have ancestral digging skills, digging holes in the ground when they can't work, and the fence can't stop them.
The fourth encirclement and suppression, poison bombardment. Although it has been defeated in successive battles against the human rabbit, the Australian government has become more and more courageous in the war, and this encirclement and suppression uses bombers to drop poison. However, this method also has great drawbacks, which will cause serious damage to the grassland, so it can only be stopped.
Fifth encirclement, myxomavirus. In the 1950s, Australian biologists introduced a myxomavirus that spreads through mosquitoes but does not harm humans and Australian native animals, and is undoubtedly a weapon to eliminate hares.
Put into use, it was found that the myxomavirus anti-rabbit effect pulled out the group. It spreads quickly among rabbit herds, with a rabbit mortality rate of up to 99.9%. By 1952, 80-95 per cent of Australia's rabbit population had been wiped out.
However, the surviving rabbits became immune to the myxomavirus, and their mortality rate after contracting the virus became lower and lower. As a result, the number of rabbits has increased, to about 600 million by 1990.
So there was a sixth encirclement, this time Australian experts already had ideas, they once again started from the virus bacteria, looking for rabbit killing tools.
In the end, Australian experts selected rabbit cup virus from China, and the effect was very remarkable after it was put into use. At this point, the number of hares in Australia has finally fallen to an acceptable range.
So many hares, why not eat them?
The solution to the Australian rabbit plague problem is a relief, but what puzzles Chinese foodies is why Australians don't eat so many rabbits?
On the one hand, this is a matter of taste, the meat quality of the rabbit is not good, and there is a fishy smell, which is difficult to cook. Chinese cooking techniques, Australians may not be able to learn, and even if they make spicy rabbit heads, they do not meet the tastes of the locals.
On the other hand, catching and handling a large number of wild flooded rabbits is time-consuming and labor-intensive; For those rabbits killed by the virus, the locals dare not eat it, nor are they suitable for export.
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