Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L00031:body:0:p5
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L00031
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 11384–14417

or drought, and availability of resources.
Rabbits inflict substantial damage upon both agricultural and environmental assets (e.g. native flora and fauna, vegetation communities, landforms, geomorphic processes and sensitive sites, and crops) and have been described as Australia's most costly vertebrate pest (Cooke et al. 2013). For agricultural commodities, this damage has been estimated at exceeding $200 million annually (Gong et al. 2009); for environmental commodities, the value of the damage has not been quantified. The introduction of rabbit biocontrol agents (myxoma and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus) have helped to reduce environmental impacts of rabbits in Australia and provided an economic benefit, although even at lower densities (e.g. more than 0.5 rabbits per hectare), their impact still continues to be severe (Bird et al. 2012; Cooke et al. 2010; Cooke 2012b; cited in Cooke et al. 2013). Direct impacts of rabbits include:
       * competition with native wildlife for resources (food and shelter)
       * preventing plant regeneration
       * overgrazing and general damage to plant species
       * reversing the normal processes of plant succession
       * altering ecological communities and changing soil structure and nutrient cycling, leading to significant erosion, and
       * removal of critical habitat for arboreal mammals and birds, leading to increased predation and reduced reproduction.

Rabbits also have indirect impacts on native flora and fauna, including:
      * supporting elevated population densities of pest predators such as foxes and feral cats. They can also support wild dogs (wild dogs are not a problem across all parts of Australia, and indeed can play an important ecological role), and
      * promoting growth of introduced and unpalatable species such as weeds.

Rabbits impact over 300 EPBC Act listed threatened species and nine ecological communities. This includes 44 species of fauna (15 birds, 20 mammals, 6 reptiles, 1 invertebrate, 1 fish and 1 amphibian) and 260 listed plant species (Department of the Environment 2015b). A full list of these species is at Appendix A.

Managing the threat

Rabbits are widely established and abundant in Australia and, with any current or foreseeable techniques, are not able to be eradicated. Given the current resources and techniques available, the focus of management is generally on abating their impacts rather than eradication. However, eradication may be achievable in isolated areas such as small reserves, exclosures, and offshore islands.
Sustained control of rabbits is feasible and has been achieved in some large areas using well planned and timely integrated control measures, particularly after rabbits have been reduced by drought or disease (Cooke 1993; Cooke 2012a). Integrated control measures must seek to: use a range of control techniques (e.g. poisoning and warren destruction); target a range of pest species (e.g. rabbit control activities should also focus on the reduction in foxes, feral