There is no documented example of 'prey switching' for foxes, cats, dingoes or raptors. Distribution patterns of wild rabbits and rare marsupials in Australia show that endangered and vulnerable marsupials of medium size, such as the bilby, survive in areas where rabbits are absent or scarce. Effective rabbit control has been shown to benefit native fauna. However, in some areas where there are few or no rabbits, rabbit calicivirus is unlikely to affect the conservation status of wildlife populations. In these areas, the causes of wildlife extinction and vulnerability are likely to be independent of rabbits, especially when foxes are present and uncontrolled.
Foxes are able to survive in areas where there are few if any rabbits.
On the Field River at the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert in Queensland foxes arrived with large numbers of native rats and remained after the plague passed. Fox control would be needed in such areas to improve conditions for native fauna. Evidence of predation on endangered or vulnerable species by dingoes, feral cats or raptors shows that these predators are less of a problem than the fox. For example, in the mid-Diamantina Region of central western Queensland where foxes and rabbits are absent, bilbies remain widespread even though dingoes and feral cats are common. A model developed to predict interactions between foxes, rabbits and native pastures provides some insight to the long term ecological consequences of rabbit calicivirus.