Wow- that is an astronomically high fine! Why so much and what's so bad about having a rabbit for a pet? Although this is a wild rabbit- do they have some sort of disease? He is cute but it's shocking to think he carries that big of a price tag! Good shot.
@olivetreeann Rabbits are a declared noxious animal in Australia, Ann. The high fine is partly due to that, and partly due to the fact they breed like rabbits. We all curse the day the Brits let the first pair loose in Geelong mid-nineteenth century, they've been in plague proportions ever since. Our climate and soils aren't like the UK and they've played havoc with our agriculture ever since. Even at our golf club rabbits are a continual problem.
@golftragic They would be comparable then to our Gypsy Moth problem. Brought here for the silk industry and when some escaped the environment was just right for them. They defoliate trees almost as fast as locusts. They're absolutely disgusting!
Hi Everybody - thanks for your interest and your kind comments on this fat little fellow. This photo was SOOC as he sat sunning himself against the container in the front yard (we have painted a mural on the front of it.) He looks so cute but he is just one of millions. I thought I would explain the size of the fine with a bit of background info:
"On Christmas day 1859, Thomas Austin, a self-made wealthy settler, released 13 European wild rabbits on his estate, Winchelsea, Barwon Park, Victoria. They had been specially collected and sent to him by a relative in England. The results of the release of the European wild rabbits at Winchelsea was quickly apparent. By 1866, hunters bagged 14,000 rabbits on the Bawron Park estate. The proliferation of rabbits was the fastest of an introduced mammal anywhere in the world. Australia is now home to at least 150 million feral rabbits, which continue to have a huge impact on our environment. Queensland is the only state to keep an area free of rabbits by maintaining a rabbit-proof fence and controlling rabbit populations in the area. Rabbits are a restricted animal in Queensland and it is illegal to keep them as pets, under strict biosecurity laws. A Queensland man who is allegedly keeping a cluster of illegal rabbits at his Brisbane home faces up to $66,000 in fines under the state’s tough anti-rabbit laws" @skipt07@fr1da@jgpittenger@golftragic@olivetreeann@overalvandaan@lynnz@gilbertwood@fbailey@rosie00@jenp@granagringa@bkbinthecity@30pics4jackiesdiamond@onewing@joansmor@jacqbb
It truly seems like a painting -- but you say it's SOCC. The lovely warm glow adds to the scene. Years ago I saw a movie entitled "Rabbit-Proof Fence." Made me study up on the issues (mainly about colonization and race relations) and I read about what you explain above. So interesting.
@jyokota Hi Junko - where we live in Stanthorpe there is a big section of the Rabbit Fence - but unfortunately we are on the wrong side of it!! We find that the feral foxes keep the feral rabbits under control - which is good. Unfortunately they also eat anything else that they manage to catch! It's all a bit tricky! :)
@jyokota It does to some extent - but the thing that has finally helped with their numbers was the introduction of first one and then another virus, both of which spread through a colony that gets overcrowded and kills the rabbits. Calicivirus and Myxomatosis are the names of the viruses. We have returned to Stanthorpe a couple of times to find dead rabbits lying around the yard! :)
@jyokota All of the above! But i think the overriding thought I always have is "why is mankind so stupid?" We never seem to learn - it is now legal to import ferrets into Australia.....
"On Christmas day 1859, Thomas Austin, a self-made wealthy settler, released 13 European wild rabbits on his estate, Winchelsea, Barwon Park, Victoria. They had been specially collected and sent to him by a relative in England. The results of the release of the European wild rabbits at Winchelsea was quickly apparent. By 1866, hunters bagged 14,000 rabbits on the Bawron Park estate. The proliferation of rabbits was the fastest of an introduced mammal anywhere in the world. Australia is now home to at least 150 million feral rabbits, which continue to have a huge impact on our environment. Queensland is the only state to keep an area free of rabbits by maintaining a rabbit-proof fence and controlling rabbit populations in the area. Rabbits are a restricted animal in Queensland and it is illegal to keep them as pets, under strict biosecurity laws. A Queensland man who is allegedly keeping a cluster of illegal rabbits at his Brisbane home faces up to $66,000 in fines under the state’s tough anti-rabbit laws"
@skipt07 @fr1da @jgpittenger @golftragic @olivetreeann @overalvandaan @lynnz @gilbertwood @fbailey @rosie00 @jenp @granagringa @bkbinthecity @30pics4jackiesdiamond @onewing @joansmor @jacqbb