- Poisoning
- Hunting/Shooting
- Warren Ripping
- Biological Control
- Myxomatosis and Calicivirus (RCD, RHD, RVD)
Warren Ripping
Warren Ripping is also known as burrow destruction. There are many techniques used in ‘ripping a warren’. A horse, truck, or tractor pulls a plough through the warren, therefore destroying the warren, its tunnels and killing the rabbits. Another method is covering the entrances and outside of the warren with dynamite and setting it off. These are effective ways but these practises are expensive, too time consuming, and too labour consuming.
Biological Control
Immuno-
contraception.
©Team 00128,
ThinkQuest 2003Immunocontraception is in the experimental phase,
currently. The effect would be achieved by inoculating viral
vectors (organisms that carry disease from one creature to
another) with the
immunocontraceptive. Because these vectors
must consume blood frequently in order to live, the
immunocontraceptive that they carry would ultimately be passed to
the rabbits when the vectors prey upon these creatures, thereby
resulting in sterilisation among a large proportion of rabbits
in Australia. But in order for this to work the vector must
infect a large percentage of dominant female rabbits.
Possible vectors that are already used for the transfer of
Myxomatosis from rabbit to rabbit are the Spanish Flea, the
European Rabbit Flea and mosquitoes. The
CSIRO is developing the
myxoma virus as the possible virus to carry the
immunocontraceptive.
