Ballina Shire wants your information on rabbits
Do you have rabbits in your part of Ballina Shire?
If so, Ballina Council wants to hear from you.
Ballina Shire residents are being encouraged to join a national challenge to record data about rabbits, from at least 5000 sites across Australia.
RabbitScan and Ballina Shire Council are encouraging individuals and groups in the Ballina Shire area to help scientists map rabbit populations by scanning their local area for rabbits and signs of their damage, and adding that to a Google Map on RabbitScan’s website.
Although rabbit numbers are increasing, populations and locations are not yet fully understood, Ballina Shire says, adding that this is a great opportunity to provide grassroots information about the distribution and abundance of rabbits.
Scientists will use the RabbitScan information to help determine future control options.
Results from this initiative will also assist the Ballina Shire’s long-term commitment to research and development of new or improved management strategies for rabbits.
There are a number of ways to record rabbit sightings: preferably you can log on to the RabbitScan website and you’ll receive a guide on how to find and map local rabbit threats, using Google Maps technology.
You can also report rabbit sightings via SMS by sending a text message with your name, phone number, location, date and number of rabbits seen to 0421 690 892.
This year is the 150th anniversary since the introduction of wild rabbits into Australia, marking a century-and-a-half of major agricultural and environmental damage from these pests.
Rabbits are a menace to the agricultural industry as they eat crop pasture and spread weeds. They are estimated to cause $200 million damage to agriculture each year.
They are also a great environmental concern because as few as four rabbits per hectare can stop regeneration of native plants. They even destroy vegetation in urban and coastal areas.
RabbitScan is an initiative of the Rabbit Management Advisory Group and the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre (CRC).
