🚀 go-pugleaf

DK>I read about the rabbit problem ( it is not the first time that I
DK>heard of it) and also about the impossibility to get rid of it. Is
DK>it still the same or were there found methods yet to reduce the
DK>harm they do in the agriculture? What happened after some rabbits
DK>developed a resistance against myxomatosis, which was introduced in
DK>1950 to control the rabbit situation? Is it allowed to use those
DK>"biological weapons"?

        Hello, I thought you may like a little information from
Australia, Brisbane Queensland to be precise.

        Rabbits are a very large problem in Australia at the moment
it goes through stages of where they are controlled to where they
are just haywire.
        The myxomatosis virus is the only semi useful method of
controlling rabbits as far as I know.  There is a lot of shooting
but it has little or no effect.  The rabbits to build up a resistance
to the virus but they change the virus structure slightly every so often
to make it effective again.
        However I have a friend who works for the government science
organisation down here CSIRO she is at the moment working on a virus
based on myxamotosis that rather than kill the rabbits sterilizes them.
This she hopes will be much more effective.  As I understand it
she is having some success and they may be ready to release the virus
soon.
        As for biological weapons when it comes to farming Australia
is sometimes better off using biological weapons of a chemical kind.
We have tried several experiments trying to introduce natural predators
of introduced species with little or no success often they make the
situation worse.  There have been some successes though, the
Cactablastus moth probably the best example.  It was introduced
to redusce a form of cactus called prickly pear and it worked very
well with no adverse affects.


DK> I read that one rabbit equals seven to ten
DK>sheep in grass consumption. It is really hard for me to believe
DK>that because I bred rabbits by myself a couple years ago. What kind
DK>of rabbits are these particular rabbits in Australia ?

        That sounds dubious to me too I can't help you with that
apart from saying that there are a lot more rabbits and they breed
a lot faster than sheep!  Also in Queensland it is illegal to own
or breed rabbits due to the problems they cause.

DK>I would like to hear more about that. If you have information,
DK>please send it.

        Hope this has helped.

DK>                       I hope I didn't make too many mistakes in my
DK>                       English,
DK>                                         bye, Daniela

        Your English was fine Daniela even to an ocker Australian like
me.  Enjoy!
        Jon Corby.
 þ SLMR 2.1 þ click.. click... click... Damn out of taglines.

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