The management of wild rabbits is a vexing problem worldwide. In countries such as Australia and New Zealand, wild rabbits are regarded as serious pests to agriculture and the environment, while in many European countries they are considered an important hunting resource, and are a cornerstone species in Mediterranean ecosystems, modifying habitats and supporting important predator populations such as the Iberian lynx. The introduction of two viral diseases, myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease, as biological control agents in Australia has been met favourably, yet their spread in southern Europe threatens natural rabbit populations. Despite this, scientists with very different goals still work together with a common interest in understanding rabbit biology and epidemiology. Australia's War Against Rabbits uses rabbit haemorrhagic disease as an important case study in understanding how animal populations adapt to diseases, caused in this case by an RNA virus. Looking at rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in an ecological framework enables insights into both virus and rabbit biology that are relevant for understanding other emerging diseases of importance to humans. This book provides up-to-date information on recent advances in areas ranging from virus structure and disease mechanics through to the sociological implications of using biological control agents and the benefits to the economy and biodiversity. It is a compelling read for wildlife disease researchers, wildlife managers, rabbit biologists, people working in the public health and education sectors, and landholders and farmers with experience or interest in RHD.

The management of wild rabbits is a vexing problem worldwide. In countries such as Australia and New Zealand, wild rabbits are regarded as serious pests to agriculture and the environment, while in many European countries they are considered an important hunting resource, and are a cornerstone species in Mediterranean ecosystems, modifying habitats and supporting important predator populations such as the Iberian lynx. The introduction of two viral diseases, myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease, as biological control agents in Australia has been met favourably, yet their spread in southern Europe threatens natural rabbit populations. Despite this, scientists with very different goals still work together with a common interest in understanding rabbit biology and epidemiology. Australia's War Against Rabbits uses rabbit haemorrhagic disease as an important case study in understanding how animal populations adapt to diseases, caused in this case by an RNA virus. Looking at rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in an ecological framework enables insights into both virus and rabbit biology that are relevant for understanding other emerging diseases of importance to humans. This book provides up-to-date information on recent advances in areas ranging from virus structure and disease mechanics through to the sociological implications of using biological control agents and the benefits to the economy and biodiversity. It is a compelling read for wildlife disease researchers, wildlife managers, rabbit biologists, people working in the public health and education sectors, and landholders and farmers with experience or interest in RHD.

This very simple book about rabbits combines familiar with fun. Readers will learn about this favorite common animal while strengthening reading skills and being wowed with great photographs.

Those Wild Rabbits explores the rabbit saga, offering hope for a brighter future in rabbit control in Australia.

This extraordinary story of courage and faith is based on the actual experiences of three girls who fled from the repressive life of Moore River Native Settlement, following along the rabbit-proof fence back to their homelands. Assimilationist policy dictated that these girls be taken from their kin and their homes in order to be made white. Settlement life was unbearable with its chains and padlocks, barred windows, hard cold beds, and horrible food. Solitary confinement was doled out as regular punishment. The girls were not even allowed to speak their language. Of all the journeys made since white people set foot on Australian soil, the journey made by these girls born of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers speaks something to everyone.

The Australian continent provides a unique perspective on the evolution and ecology of carnivorous animals. In earlier ages, Australia provided the arena for a spectacular radiation of marsupial and reptilian predators. The causes of their extinctions are still the subject of debate. Since European settlement, Australia has seen the extinction of one large marsupial predator (the thylacine), another (the Tasmanian devil) is in danger of imminent extinction, and still others have suffered dramatic declines. By contrast, two recently-introduced predators, the fox and cat, have been spectacularly successful, with devastating impacts on the Australian fauna. Carnivores of Australia: Past, Present and Future explores Australia's unique predator communities from pre-historic, historic and current perspectives. It covers mammalian, reptilian and avian carnivores, both native and introduced to Australia. It also examines the debate surrounding how best to manage predators to protect livestock and native biodiversity. Readers will benefit from the most up-to-date synthesis by leading researchers and managers in the field of carnivore biology. By emphasising Australian carnivores as exemplars of flesh-eaters in other parts of the world, this book will be an important reference for researchers, wildlife managers and students worldwide.

This book examines the long-term fate of invasive species by detailing examples of invaders from different zoological and botanical taxa from various places around the world. Readers will discover what happened, after a century or so, to 'classical' invaders like rabbits in Australia, house sparrows in North America, minks in Europe and water hyacinths in Africa and Asia. Chapters presented in the book focus on eighteen species in the form of in-depth case studies including: earthworms, zebra mussels, Canadian water weed, Himalayan balsam, house sparrows, rabbits, crayfish plague, Colorado beetles, water hyacinths, starlings, Argentine ant, Dutch elm disease, American mink, cane toad, raccoons, Canadian beavers, African killer bees and warty comb jelly. Invaded areas described are in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Pacific islands, and South America. Readers will get some ideas about the likely future of current invaders from the fate of old ones. This book is intended for undergraduates studying environmental sciences, researchers and members of environmental NGO's.

When the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788, its cargo included a small number of rabbits. A hundred years later rabbits had colonised vast areas of the continent, bringing irreversible change to the country's ecology. Tooth and Nail is a beautifully written and wonderfully entertaining history about human reactions to the rabbit. A survivor of drought, fire, flood, diseases, predators and poisons, this small and rather attractive creature has irrevocably transformed our environment and influenced social, political and cultural life in this country. Coman describes everything from nineteenth-century poisoning techniques to destroying rabbit warrens with explosives, from the many weird theories circulating as to how to destroy the rabbit to Louis Pasteur's attempts to infect Australian rabbits with chicken cholera. He tells the story of a Geelong grazier who was one of the first to bring rabbits to Australia. And the book charts the extraordinary postwar story of the battle against the rabbit, including the unprecedented impact of myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease. Tooth and Nail is an indispensable history of how Europeans, through the introduction of a single species, changed Australia forever.