{"id":11689,"date":"2026-05-15T02:58:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/11689\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T02:58:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:58:28","slug":"new-virus-to-control-surging-feral-rabbit-population-at-least-10-years-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/11689\/","title":{"rendered":"New virus to control surging feral rabbit population at least 10 years away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia’s feral rabbit coordinator has warned it could be at least another 10 years before the nation releases a new virus strain to manage the pests.<\/p>\n

Rabbit numbers are on the rise across south-east Australia, as recent rain provides more feed and ideal breeding conditions.<\/p>\n

The deliberate release of deadly viruses, such as myxomatosis in the 1950s and calicivirus in recent years, has helped subdue populations.<\/p>\n

But national feral rabbit management coordinator Heidi Kleinert, with the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS), said the effectiveness of the current virus, first released nine years ago, was waning.<\/p>\n

“Rabbits often get genetic resistance, and that builds up in the population over time,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Feral<\/p>\n

Pest rabbits cause an estimated $200 million in damage a year. (Supplied: Centre for Invasive Species Solutions)<\/p>\n

Ms Kleinert said CSIRO scientists were working on a new virus, but funding for the program ended this year.<\/p>\n

The CSIRO received $387.4 million in the federal budget<\/a> announced on Tuesday night, but it is not yet clear if the funds will be used to extend the rabbit virus project.<\/p>\n

“Our policy challenge is that Australia doesn’t currently have a national funding model that enables long-term investment into pest management and biocontrol,” Ms Kleinert said.<\/p>\n

Poison demand doubles<\/p>\n

Biological control is an effective large-scale management option for feral rabbits, but those dealing with the problem say conventional methods are still needed.<\/p>\n

“It’s not the silver bullet,” said John Nolan, invasive species team leader with New South Wales agency Murray Local Land Services.<\/p>\n

“It works well when it works, but we certainly go back to our mainstream control options, which are usually baiting, ripping, fumigating and trapping.”<\/p>\n

Mr Nolan said a drop in the number of flies, mosquitoes and fleas during recent dry conditions had also affected virus transmission.<\/p>\n

“With no insects, it stopped the spread of these biological controls,” he said.<\/p>\n

“[That] allowed a lot of the rabbits to get going in areas where we don’t traditionally do control or have problems.<\/p>\n

“We had dry conditions and then had a bit of [rain] in late summer, which spurred [the rabbits] on.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

NSW Local Land Services has doubled the amount of rabbit bait it is providing to farmers this year. (Supplied: NSW LLS)<\/p>\n

Carrots laced with poison are being used to deal with feral rabbits on farms in the region.<\/p>\n

Mr Nolan said the demand for the bait had doubled this year, compared to the previous two years.<\/p>\n

“We have issued around 9,000 kilograms of poison bait product to landholders,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Especially around Holbrook, the Upper Murray, north of Swan Hill, Moulamein and Jerilderie.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Heidi Kleinert says funding is needed for the development of a new strain of rabbit virus. (Supplied: Heidi Kleinert)<\/p>\n

Next virus at least 10 years away<\/p>\n

CISS and the CSIRO said new biocontrol agents needed to be released every 10 to 15 years to stay on top of virus resistance.<\/p>\n

With a new virus due now and funding for the current CSIRO program running out, Ms Kleinert is concerned about the impact.<\/p>\n

“Rabbits cost Australian agriculture more than $200 million every year and place significant pressure on native ecosystems and threatened species,” she said.<\/p>\n

CISS said $3 million is needed over the next three years to continue developing a new virus strain.<\/p>\n

“We are talking to the states and territories and the federal government, as well as the private sector, about helping to invest in the [project],” Ms Kleinert said.<\/p>\n

But even if funding is continued, she said the new virus was still years away.<\/p>\n

“To get from concept to a release program is 10 years, so if we do get money \u2026 we are looking at 2036 before the next virus is available,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Rabbit<\/p>\n

Bethanga Recreation Reserve is home to a large feral rabbit population. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said “states and territories and landholders are primarily responsible for on-ground management of wild rabbits”.<\/p>\n

“The Australian government is investing $1.2 million to support rabbit biocontrol research, the national rabbit disease monitoring program, and the national rabbit management coordinator program,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\"Bethanga<\/p>\n

Rabbits have dug holes under the tennis court fence in Bethanga. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

Rabbit-proof fence<\/p>\n

In Bethanga, in north-east Victoria, the feral rabbit problem is getting so bad that a rabbit-proof fence is being considered for the town’s sports oval.<\/p>\n

Bethanga Recreation Reserve president Joanne Sirl said the animals are causing safety hazards.<\/p>\n

“Just looking around the ground, you can see many holes \u2026 [it] makes it very dangerous for people \u2014 cricket players, joggers, small children,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Sirl said some of the holes were up to 6 centimetres deep.<\/p>\n

“We had one cricket player last season, a ball deflected the wrong way and hit them in the forehead,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joanne Sirl says feral rabbit holes in Bethanga’s sports reserve are a safety hazard. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

On Saturday mornings before cricket matches, club members spent a couple of hours filling in the holes.<\/p>\n

“We’ve looked at lots of avenues on how to protect the oval, we’ve spoken to Landcare and DECCA,” Ms Sirl said.<\/p>\n

“The only thing we might be able to do is [build] a rabbit-proof fence around the ground.”\"A<\/p>\n

Holes in the Bethanga Recreation Reserve measure up to 6cm deep. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

The Bethanga Recreation Reserve is not alone.<\/p>\n

“At other grounds, professional harvesters have taken out 130 [rabbits] on a night and 120 the next night,” Ms Sirl said.<\/p>\n

“But the rabbits come back in a couple of weeks \u2026 it doesn’t solve the situation.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia’s feral rabbit coordinator has warned it could be at least another 10 years before the nation releases…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,12489,9689,12490,12491,12492,12485,12486,12488,12487,12484],"class_list":["post-11689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-calicivirus","tag-csiro","tag-feral-rabbit-management","tag-feral-rabbits","tag-invasive-species-solutions","tag-pest","tag-rabbit-control","tag-rabbit-proof-fence","tag-rabbit-virus","tag-rabbits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}